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Maritime Policy & Management
The flagship journal of international shipping and port research
Volume 36, 2009 - Issue 1
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Original Articles

European ports policy: meeting contemporary governance challenges

Pages 79-101 | Published online: 23 Mar 2009

References and notes

  • The author has written this article in his own name as part of his PhD research conducted at the University of Antwerp (Faculty of Applied Economics, Department of Transport and Regional Economics). The views expressed are therefore not necessarily those of ESPO. The article is based on a paper which was presented in April 2008 at the IAME Annual Conference held in Dalian, China
  • Throughout the article the term ‘port authority’ generally refers to the entity that is responsible for the overall management of a port, regardless of its specific institutional and organizational characteristics. The perspective taken is however largely that of public sector port authorities since this is the most common form in the EU. The term ‘port governance’ is derived from Brooks and Cullinane (see 26) and refers to the structure, role and responsibility of the port authority. Finally, the author uses the terms ‘European Union’, ‘European Community’, ‘EU’ and ‘EC’ throughout the paper even when reference is made to facts taking place before the entry into force of the EU Treaty (Maastricht Treaty) in 1993
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  • Brooks , MR and Cullinane , K . 2007 . “ Introduction ” . In Devolution, Port Governance and Port Performance , Edited by: Brooks , MR and Cullinane , K . 3 – 28 . Amsterdam : Elsevier .
  • Brooks , MR and Cullinane , K . 2007 . “ Conclusions and research agenda ” . In Devolution, Port Governance and Port Performance , Edited by: Brooks , MR and Cullinane , K . 631 – 660 . Amsterdam : Elsevier .
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  • The author is conscious of the criticism expressed by Brooks and Cullinane on the typology used by the World Bank, Baird and other authors. The ‘landlord’, ‘service’ and ‘tool’ port models should therefore rather be seen as ‘ideal types’
  • Chlomoudis , CI and Pallis , AA . 2002 . European Union Port Policy—The Movement Towards a Long-term Strategy , Cheltenham/Northampton : Edward Elgar .
  • Assemblee Parlementaire Europenne . 1961 . “ Rapport fait au nom de la commission des transports sur des problèmes concernant la politique commune des transports dans le cadre de la CEE (Rapport P. Kapteyn) ” . In PE 106 , Luxembourg : Services des Publications des Communautés Européennes .
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  • A new edition of the fact finding report followed in 1986, after the enlargement of the EU with the maritime nations Greece, Spain and Portugal. The European Sea Ports Organization, which succeeded the Port Working Group, published two further editions, respectively in 1997 and 2005.
  • Report quoted in: European Parliament . 1982 . Report drawn up on behalf of the Committee on Transport on the role of ports in the common transport policy (Report A. Carossino) . 1-844/82 (PE 80.050)
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  • The role of Spain, which had the presidency of the Council in the first half of 2002, should be highlighted here. Since the Spanish government wanted to have the Directive in place to support its national port reform plan it was ready to accept many amendments to the Commission's original proposal
  • Chlomoudis , CI and Pallis , AA . 2002 . op cite ,
  • Drankier , P . 2005 . Leiden alle wegen naar Brussel? Samenwerking en conflict in de Europese havenpolitiek—Doctoraalscriptie sociale geografie , Utrecht : Universiteit Utrecht .
  • Commission of the European Communities . 2007 . “ Communication on a European ports policy ” . In COM(2007) 616 final , Brussels : Commission of the European Communities .
  • Following stakeholders published a formal response: ESPO (port authorities), ECSA (shipowners), ESC (shippers), CLECAT (freight forwarders), EUROCHAMBRES (chambers of commerce), ETF (trade unions) and IDC (trade unions)
  • The European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions adopted an official opinion, respectively in September, July and April 2008. The Council had already given an informal, but generally welcoming response at a Transport Ministers’ conference at the end of October 2007
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  • Armani , EM . 2001 . op cite ,
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  • These Directives form the legal basis of Natura 2000, a European network of protected nature conservation areas
  • European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) . 2007 . Communication From the European Commission on a European Ports Policy—General Response of ESPO , Brussels : ESPO .
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  • During preparatory meetings the Commission already indicated that it wants to produce a ‘guidance’ document based on best practice rather than a set of ‘interpretative’ guidelines
  • The bottlenecks exercise consists of an inventory of operational, infrastructure-related and administrative bottlenecks that hinder freight transport logistics in Europe. Potential solutions on the reported bottlenecks are analysed and discussed by representatives of relevant European stakeholder organizations
  • Institute Of Transport And Maritime Management Antwerp (ITMMA) . 2008 . The Awarding of Seaport Terminals in Europe—Results from the ITMMA Survey Commissioned by ESPO—Internal Report , Brussels/Antwerp : ESPO/ITMMA .
  • At the time of finalizing this article, the European Commission's Internal Market and Services Directorate-General was assessing the possibility of having a Directive on concessions which would apply to all sectors. The Directive would be based on a horizontal interpretative communication which the Commission published in 2000. A concrete proposal–if any–was not expected to emerge before the end of 2009
  • Brooks , MR and Cullinane , K . 2007 . Conclusions and research agenda . op cite ,

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