For the European terminalisti the proposal of reform of the norms EU on the ports is following the right roads



If to seeming of the association of European shipowners ECSA the proposal of reform of the communitarian legislation in harbour matter be getting bogged down ( on 23 September 2014), to warning of the association of European terminalisti FEPORT, instead, it has entered the right roads, distance from which it does not have to be scantonare.

The opinion is diametrically opposite mainly for the current exclusion of the cargo handling from the regulations project towards which European politics it is being addressed. The extract is not appreciated by the ECSA, second which the expensive services of cargo handling and the passengers in the ports, but also the pilotage services, would not have to be eliminated from the norms on the access at the market. According to FEPORT, with the exclusion of the cargo handling from the within of the regulations proposal the European politicians have taken note of the absolutely competitive character who already now marks the field cargo handling.

FEPORT has remembered that in 2013, when the EU commission at the market proposed initially regulations on the access of the harbour services and on the transparency financial institution of the ports, the federation of the European terminalisti expressed its skepticism about the true added value of the text. "In fact, also supporting the objectives of the regulations (free performance of the services, the transparency financial institution of the financings publics and to encourage the investments of the private sector in the ports) - the federation has remembered - the harbour operators have restated with force that cargo handling was already a competitive industry. The facility with which the companies of navigation and the loaders they change port of call ports, as demonstrated from a myriad of examples - it has found FEPORT - they demonstrate clearly that the competition between the ports is one of the main device drivers, if not the main one, in imposing a strong competitive pressure on the European field of cargo handling in the ports. In the majority of the European ports - he has emphasized the federation - the customers of the terminalisti directly benefit of modern terminals with new services and effective connections with the outback".

"Recognizing the competitive character of the field of cargo handling - FEPORT has restated - Commission, Parliament and Council, from the beginning of Italian presidency last July 2014, have confirmed that the rules in access matter at the market are not applied to cargo handling. FEPORT supports their decision and recommends lively that the other articles of the regulations on the ports remain coherent at the market with the contained principles in chapter relative to the access so avoiding the risk of interpretation errors".

According to FEPORT, "it is moreover essential that the future arguments between the Commission and the legislators hold account of the initial objectives of the text that, between the others, are thesis protect the harbour operators regarding potential legal uncertainties and excessive administrative burdens".

At last FEPORT, remembering that "the harbour activities directly contribute to the occupation, the internal investments and the Gross Domestic Product increase of the EU", it has evidenced that "he is therefore absolutely indispensable that the text that will emerge from the arguments between the legislators does not destroy the efforts of the terminalisti in order to remain performing and competitive".