The French government has introduced a plan for the creation of great national harbour systems



Within on January 1°, 2021 the three ports of the Havre, Rouen and Paris, situated along the course of Senna, will be administered by an only harbour authority. The French prime Minister has announced past thursday Édouard Philippe in occasion of the reunion to Dunkerque of the Comité Interministériel de the Mer (CIMer), organism that has the task to address politics of the government in marine matter.

Philippe has remembered that "the system of the valley of Senna today is integrated, since the ports of the Havre, Rouen and Paris collaborate from 2012 in the within of the called structure Haropa"(on 23 January 2012). "It is time - the Prime Minister has explained - to pass still more to an emphasized integration, based on the demand from the harbour users for having a true unit of command and strategy on all the great basin Parisian and creating with of dimensions pairs to the other ports of the Northern Range. The government - he has specified Philippe - therefore has decided to melt the three ports of the Havre, Rouen and Paris under a public body who will be equipped of three alleviates territorial, an only public organism that will obviously have territorial presences that will have to be operating to more late on January 1°, 2021".

"I have asked the minister of the Transports - it has added the French prime Minister - to start in next the three months a consultation with all the parts interested, the representatives of the staff, with local authorities and with on how specific the economic actors of this fusion, on the elements to take in consideration in order to involve mainly the local parts in the decisions that can be assumed and that they regard them directly". Philippe has announced that a commissioner to the fusion will be named that gives the beginning of 2020 will be charged among other things to define the rules for the operation of the new agency, to elaborate a plan strategic of the new harbour system and to propose agreements on the pluriennali objectives between the harbour system and the State.

An analogous initiative, even if not put into effect through the fusion of harbour authorities, will be put into effect also relatively to the French harbour ports of call of the Mediterranean and the fluvial system of Break in. The Prime Minister has explained that, "regarding the harbour system of Break in, the main challenge is that to unify in better way the harbour front of the Mediterranean coast and to connect the most possible port than Lyon. To half of 2019 - it has announced Philippe - we will propose the creation of a Group of Economic Interest that will reunite the ports of Marseilles, Silks, Tolone, Port the Nuovelle, Nice and Port Vendres. At a later time Lyon will be associated also. This GIE will have the task to on the issues improve the coordination of the innovation, of the order of the field of the conventional naval repairs and the nautical one from diporto and the promotion of new traffics of goods and container".

The Prime Minister has specified also the position of the government relatively to the management of the main ports on the Atlantic coast: "a year it makes - Philippe has remembered - I have said that the government would favorably have estimated the demands for the communities that intended to assume of the management. From then they have been exchanges of opinions. We will propose and ask the competent territorial authorities, and in particular the regional councils, task to the regional Council of the Aquitania New, to the regional Council of the Countries of the Loira - it has added the prime Minister - to assume formal decisions on as they preview to manage these harbour structures. Relatively to the issue if they want to assume of the control or to assure of the development - it has clarified Philippe - obviously we will not decide nothing without they have formulated their demands and, if they wish it, we can discuss about the conditions. If they will not want to assume some the management - it has concluded the Prime Minister - obviously the State will remain to the rudder of these great harbour infrastructures".