Maritime transport

Actions to Alleviate Bottlenecks

To simplify documentary procedures in shipping as a follow-up of identified bottlenecks, the European Parliament and Council adopted in February 2002 the Directive (2002/6/EC) on Reporting Formalities for Ships Arriving in and/or Departing from Ports of the Member States of the Community.

In May 2002 the Commission presented a Guide to Customs Procedures for Short Sea Shipping. This document is a factual compilation of different customs procedures that are applied every day to Short Sea Shipping.  

To address questions surrounding the Customs concept of "Authorised Regular Shipping Service" and its practical application, the Commission presented in March 2004 a Working Document explaining the modalities of this service.

Short Sea Shipping needs efficient and short-sea friendly ports with open access and fair and transparent procedures. The Commission proposal on Access to the Port Services Market would have substantially contributed to this. However, in November 2003, the European Parliament voted against the proposed text after conciliation with the Council. Consequently, availability of competition in the port services market continues to be less intense that it would have become with a specific Directive. 

When talking about port efficiency we should not forget their connections to the hinterland. The Commission is paying special attention to these connections and will have them in focus in the forthcoming revision of the Guidelines for the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) 

The Commission made a proposal in February 2002 on a new Community support programme "Marco Polo" Once adopted, the programme will play a major role in making intermodality a reality in Europe. In addition to Short Sea Shipping, the programme also covers rail and inland waterways.

As to interoperability between modes of transport, one area that the Commission is currently examining is Loading Units. It has presented a proposal to harmonise and standardise certain characteristics of these units.

The concept of the "Motorways of the Sea" was introduced in the Commission White Paper on European Transport Policy for 2010. The Commission is currently working on the details of the concept to present them in the next revision of the TEN-T Guidelines.

A further Community initiative mentioned in the White Paper is infrastructure charging. Because Short Sea Shipping is environmentally less damaging than other modes, is safe and the sea offers an open infrastructure, it could be expected to gain from such an initiative covering all modes. 

To receive more information on the European Commission policy to promote Short Sea Shipping, go to the Contacts link.