A busy September “thanks” to the EU Commission…
These last weeks (including the Summer ones) have been quite busy for FEPORT as well as for many sister organizations which had to answer several consultations, EU Commission’s consultants’ interviews and questionnaires regarding important topics, for instance about the Sustainable mobility strategy and the White Paper on Foreign Subsidies.
The Green Deal and now the COVID-19 crisis indeed require ambitious policy actions that will allow the EU to recover in a smart, agile, resilient, sustainable and “clear headed” manner.
FEPORT believes that the Green Deal can enable the development of so-called “industrial ecosystems” which not only offer eco-friendly business opportunities but also facilitate intercompany innovative collaboration aimed at enhanced energy and resource efficiency along the way.
Port ecosystems, which are more than a component of maritime transport, represent a fantastic opportunity to attract industries and manufacturing centres into the vicinity of ports. Many port activities and related investments directly or indirectly contribute in making the Green Deal happen. They will also support the decarbonization process on maritime transport.
Private port companies and terminals are expanding their business to include the production of renewable energies and intermodal services with low carbon footprint. They are active promoters towards EU institutions of environmentally friendly modes of transport connecting land to sea.
Multimodal logistic infrastructures in ports can indeed support the transformation of the role of ports be it on the seaside or on the hinterland side. It will be essential that policy makers work hand in hand with all port stakeholders to better understand the new dynamics of value chains and propose relevant accompanying measures and policies. Regulatory frameworks including competition rules must be rethought to support innovative models and ensure a real level playing field between all actors of the maritime logistics chain.
FEPORT has also replied to the consultation on the White Paper on Foreign Subsidies and hopes that the consultation on the White Paper on Foreign Subsidies will translate into concrete and effective measures against distortive practices.
The White Paper recognizes a fundamental regulatory gap in existing EU legislation on competition, trade, public procurement and in EU funding as regards distortions arising from foreign subsidies in the Internal Market.
FEPORT subscribes to the findings of the White Paper and has been supportive of the previous initiative of the Commission aiming at adopting an efficient FDI screening mechanism. However, we believe that there is a need for a more effective response. Europeans must acquire a better capacity to anticipate potential risks from FDI, including a common perspective regarding strategic assets and ecosystems.
In this respect, FEPORT hopes that the inclusion of the port sector as part of the ecosystem “Mobility-Transport-Automotive” will translate into policies that recognize the strategic nature of ports.
01.09.2020 – Waterborne Extraordinary General Assembly
On the 1st of September 2020, FEPORT attended the remote Extraordinary General Assembly of the Waterborne Technology Platform, where the GA endorsed the applications of ten new members.
Moreover, the GA mandated the board to finalize the Horizon Europe Partnership Proposal on Zero-Emission Waterborne Transport, of which the draft had already been submitted to the European Commission at the end of May.
The Waterborne partnership includes relevant topics for port stakeholders, for example, concerning the provision of alternative fuel solutions in ports and data-exchange throughout the maritime logistics chain.
08.09.2020 – German Ministerial Conference “Triggering greening and international competitiveness of shipping and ports”
On the occasion of the “Greening Shipping” conference, Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer discussed concrete measures for a more climate-friendly and innovative maritime shipping sector with his EU counterparts as well as with shipowners, terminal operators, ship builders and other associations.
The participants exchanged views on approaches and strategies for sustainability and international competitiveness of the European shipping and ports sectors, also taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the speakers debated how to reshape a sustainable shipping industry, and how to identify suitable measures to enable the shipping industry to contribute its share to the ambitious European climate change goals.
Alternative fuels and drivetrain technologies, energy efficient shipping and a sustainable ports sector offer great potential for maintaining the international competitiveness of the European maritime industry. Energy supply and management in ports is also expected to play a major role for the European leadership and innovative capacity.
Implementing the European Commission's Green Deal will be a challenge for the sector in the years ahead. The Federal Government would like to use its EU Council Presidency to advance further along this road together with the Member States.
FEPORT Secretary General, Ms Lamia Kerdjoudj-Belkaid was invited by the Federal Minister of Transport to take part to a panel discussion during which she invited all policy makers not to forget how essential transport and logistics workers are even once the COVID 19 crisis will be over. It will be essential to invest in the human capital to enhance the profiles. This will help the economy over time through lowered logistic costs and environmental benefits.
“I would also like to remind that ports are more than a component of maritime transport. They are clusters of transport, energy and industry. They are in many ways a strategic partner in Europe’s ambitious decarbonisation agenda” mentioned Ms Lamia Kerdjoudj-Belkaid.
Private port companies and terminals are expanding their business to include the production of renewable energies and intermodal services with low carbon footprint. They are active promoters towards EU institutions of environmentally friendly modes of transport connecting land to sea. We need policy makers to work hand in hand with all port stakeholders to better understand the new dynamics of value chains to ultimately propose relevant accompanying measures and policies” pleaded FEPORT Secretary General.
09.09.2020 – FEPORT responds to Public Consultation on ReFuel EU Maritime
On the 9th of September, FEPORT responded to the Public Consultation on the upcoming ReFuel EU Maritime initiative.
With ReFuel EU Maritime, the European Commission seeks to stimulate the demand of sustainable alternative fuels in order to facilitate zero-emission shipping in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal. The ReFuel EU Maritime initiative aims at increasing the production, deployment and uptake of sustainable alternative fuels as well as regulating the access of the most polluting ships to EU ports.
In its position paper, FEPORT underlined that measures to accelerate the uptake of alternative fuels should focus on the demand side and that not only GHG emissions should be taken into account, but also the harmful effects of emissions of NOx, SOx and particulate matter on the health of coastal populations.
FEPORT also stressed the importance of striving for coherence between ReFuel EU Maritime and other policy measures, most notably the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive and the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure (AFI) Directive, and pleaded in favour of recognizing LNG as a transitional fuel.
As a way to stimulate demand, the revised ETD should allow for a tax exemption for sustainable fuels and energy supplies such as OPS. The principle of technological neutrality, however, should at all time be respected, in order to allow for innovation and prevent stranded assets, as it is still uncertain which fuel(s) will be the silver bullet to reduce the environmental footprint of shipping.
16.09.2020 – European Parliament votes for shipping industry to contribute to climate neutrality
On the 16th on the of September, the European Parliament voted in favour of a 40% reduction in CO2 by 2030 Maritime transport to be included in EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The Parliament adopted its position on the Commission’s proposal to revise the EU system for monitoring, reporting and verifying CO2 emissions from maritime transport (the EU MRV Regulation) with 520 votes to 94 and 77 abstentions.
MEPs largely agreed on the fact that reporting obligations by the EU and the IMO should be aligned, as proposed by the Commission. They noted, however, that the IMO has made insufficient progress in reaching an ambitious global agreement on GHG emissions. They also asked the Commission to examine the overall environmental integrity of the measures decided by the IMO, including the targets under the Paris Agreement. A global ambitious agreement on GHG emissions from shipping is urgently needed, they added.
Moreover, MEPs called for an “Ocean Fund” for the period from 2022 to 2030, financed by revenues from auctioning allowances under the ETS, to make ships more energy-efficient and to support investment in innovative technologies and infrastructure, such as alternative fuel and green ports. 20 % of the revenues under the Fund should be used to contribute to protecting, restoring and efficiently managing marine ecosystems impacted by global warming.
17.09.2020 – European Parliament establishes measures for a sustainable rail market in view of the COVID-19 pandemic
On the 17th of September, the European Parliament’s plenary session adopted a Regulation that will establish measures for a sustainable rail market in view of the COVID-19.
The Regulation will allow, temporarily and at least to the end of the year, measures to assist the rail sector face the effects of COVID‑19, including lower, waived or deferred track access charges. It would also allow Member States to support rail infrastructure managers to cover any financial losses brought about by the new relief measures until the industry can get back to normal operations.
Rail plays a major role in the EU economy and labour market: as of the end of 2016, railways employed roughly one million people. Moreover, by contributing to more sustainable and environmentally friendly transport, rail is critical to achieving the objectives of the Green Deal. The coronavirus outbreak had an adverse impact on domestic and international passenger and freight rail and could also have negative financial consequences on all rail stakeholders and for the EU rail market structure.
18.09.2020 – Roundtable on ReFuel EU Maritime
Friday, the 18th of September, FEPORT Secretariat participated in the Roundtable on the ReFuel EU Maritime initiative which was hosted by DG MOVE. Both members from the European Port Forum and the European Sustainable Shipping forum participated in the discussions, as well as organizations that responded to the public consultation regarding ReFuel EU maritime that closed on the 10th of September.
The full-day event consisted in presentations regarding the impact assessment study, as well as two panel discussions.
In her opening address, DG MOVE Waterborne Transport Director Magda Kopczynska noted that it is crucial to include all sectors in the upcoming strategy on sustainable and smart mobility and that a clear place has been reserved for the waterborne sector in the 2030 EU Climate Target Plan.
DG MOVE Waterborne Transport Director explained that the Commission approaches the decarbonization of maritime transport from various angles looking at pricing (through the Emissions Trading System), taxation (by revising the Energy Taxation Directive), by establishing definitions of sustainable activities (by means of the EU Taxonomy Regulation) and by stimulating R&D (via the Horizon Europe Fund).
DG MOVE Waterborne Transport Director found it particularly important to address the gaps in supply and demand for clean alternative fuels and argued that, therefore, discussions on the AFI Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive should be stimulated.
The presentation regarding the impact assessment support study was made by a representative from CE Delft. It was explained that maritime transport is currently responsible for around four percent of total EU emissions, although over the last years shipping emissions have stayed the same in spite of the growth of seaborne trade.
CE Delft listed a number of root causes concerning the low uptake of low carbon fuels which related to the long lifetime of ships (between 20 and 40 years) , the technical readiness of fuels, the high costs of low carbon alternatives as compared to fossil fuels, as well as a complex interdependency between supply and demand.
According to the support study, neither voluntary industry nor IMO initiatives have brought about a large-scale uptake of low carbon fuels, while national policy initiatives have so far only addressed problems regarding infrastructure.
The Commission is currently assessing three policy approaches for ReFuel EU Maritime:
- Prescriptive: Ships will be mandated to use a minimum amount of clean fuels and OPS
- Goal-based: Adopt an obligation to limit GHG emissions in navigation and at berth
- Mixed approach: A combination of the two above approaches
The presentation regarding the impact assessment was followed by a panel discussion regarding the role of FuelEU Maritime in the sector’s decarbonization strategy, to which ESPO, SEA Europe, ECSA and NGO Transport & Environment participated.
ESPO stressed that in order to decarbonize the sector, cooperation between port stakeholders, shipping lines and energy suppliers is indispensable. SEA Europe mainly highlighted the importance of maritime technology in achieving shipping’s decarbonization goals and in that regard argued in favour of a European fleet renewal programme, in order to ensure the survival of European industry and to help the EU meet its environmental targets at the same time.
The second panel - comprising of stakeholders from the Port of Barcelona, Maersk, Goodfuels and the Waterborne Technology Platform – discussed how to ramp-up the uptake of sustainable alternative fuels through FuelEU maritime. Also, in this panel, the importance of transitional fuels was underlined, and it was stressed that Regulations should not privilege specific technologies. Henk Prins representing the Waterborne Technology Platform stressed that R&I alone would never be enough, and that also the demand for sustainable fuels and technologies should be stimulated. In case the maritime sector would be taxed, however, the revenues should be invested back in the sector through RD&I.
21.09.2020 – Maritime Taxonomy Workshop
Monday the 21st of September, FEPORT participated in a workshop focussing on the development of a “maritime taxonomy” which was organized by DG MOVE together with consultancies COWI and CE Delft and attended by various maritime and logistics industry stakeholders and NGOs.
The EU Taxonomy Regulation has entered into force in July 2020 and will serve as a tool to establish which investments are environmentally sustainable and which are not. The taxonomy will also have repercussions for public procurement.
The European Commission seeks to establish a taxonomy specifically applicable to the maritime sector which should be finalized by the end of this year.
FEPORT is actively involved in this process to ensure that the taxonomy builds further on already existing industry methodologies to calculate emissions and does not create an additional regulatory burden on top of national and European environmental legislation already in place; the EU taxonomy should rather be seen as a way to simplify and reduce administrative burdens.
The taxonomy rules should also allow some transitional activities to still qualify as green.
21.09.2020 – European Commission adopts revised EU ETS State Aid Guidelines
On the 21st of September, the European Commission adopted the revised EU Emission Trading System State aid Guidelines in the context of the system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading post-2021. The Guidelines will enter into force on the 21st of January 2021 with the start of the new ETS trading period, and replace the previous Guidelines adopted in 2012.
The ETS Guidelines aim at reducing the risk of “carbon leakage”, where companies move production to countries outside the EU with less ambitious climate policies, leading to less economic activity in the EU and no reduction of GHG emissions globally. In particular, these Guidelines enable Member States to compensate companies in at-risk sectors for part of the higher electricity prices resulting from the carbon price signals created by the EU ETS. At the same time, overcompensation of companies would risk running counter to the price signals created by the EU ETS to promote a cost-effective decarbonisation of the economy and create undue distortions of competition in the Single Market.
Against this background, the revised ETS Guidelines will:
- Target aid only at sectors at risk of carbon leakage due to high indirect emission costs and their strong exposure to international trade.
- Set a stable compensation rate of 75% in the new period (reduced from 85% at the beginning of the previous ETS trading period), and exclude compensation for non-efficient technologies, to maintain the companies' incentives for energy efficiency.
- Make compensation conditional upon additional decarbonisation efforts by the companies concerned, such as complying with the recommendations of their energy efficiency audit.
The Guidelines also take into account the specificities of SMEs, in line with the SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe, by exempting them from the new conditionality requirement in order to limit their administrative burden.
21.09.2020 – Berlin Declaration of EU ministers of transport
On the 21st of September, the EU ministers of transport issued a Ministerial Declaration entitled “European rail freight within the context of European corridors for competitive rail freight”.
The ministers committed to:
- further strengthen and develop the Rail Freight Corridors (RFC);
- support rail freight stakeholders to enable them to better adapt to market needs.
- enhance rail freight transport as one of the most environmentally friendly ways of moving freight.
- further technical and operational harmonisation.
- recognise that strong rail freight requires skilled workers.
The agreement will bring new approaches and visions to rail freight, building on the experience gained and best practice already developed by the RFCs. This includes a push towards fully carbon-neutral rail freight, as well as effective rail noise mitigation, research and innovation.
The digitalisation of infrastructure networks, capacity management and allocation, including the management of temporary capacity restrictions, as well as the automation of transport processes and related information flows using interoperable IT systems, will also contribute to a more efficient use of existing and future investments.
Moreover, the declaration acknowledges that the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic must be implemented when the crisis will end.
The Sector Statement Group welcomed the declaration and Member States’ commitment to agree on a migration strategy for Digital Automatic Coupling along the recognition of the importance of further digitalisation of infrastructure networks, capacity management and allocation.
The European rail freight is facing a rapid and constant change. Road-rail Combined Transport filled every second freight train in 2019 and this trend will only strengthen as the volume of commodities transported using conventional rail freight continues to decline, while the pressure is high to increase asset utilization and the preferred unit of shipment for vast portions of the economy is the truckload.
22.09.2020 – General Assembly TIC 4.0
On the 22nd of September, FEPORT attended TIC 4.0 General Assembly held remotely. The meeting gathered all TIC 4.0 members as well as the three new ones: APM Terminals, Bollore, Eurogate, HHLA, Hyster-Yale, ICT, Kalmar, Konecranes, Künz, Liebherr, Luka Koper, MMC, NAVIS LCC, PSA, RBS, SAAB Marine, Sick, TBA, Terminal Link SAS, TMEIC, Yilport and ZPMC.
The main objective of TIC 4.0 is to bring together terminal operators, port equipment manufacturers and software suppliers to define, develop and maintain standards that enable the sector to face critical challenges like digital transformation, energy transition and the evolution towards automation. This objective will allow both operators and manufacturers to adopt a common language regarding port operations and implement Industry 4.0 models.
FEPORT has been one of the first TIC 4.0 supporters as this corresponds to our members’ priorities. Standardization implies a level of maturity among industry players which have realized that improvements and performance can also be achieved by defining common standards.
A closer interaction between terminals and manufacturers with the objective of the elaboration of industry standards will favour the development of Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, further technological innovations in the port sector. Innovation will also be the best means to support sustainable and efficient port operations.
23.09.2020 – FEPORT replies to the consultation on the White Paper on Foreign Subsidies
FEPORT has replied to the consultation on the White Paper on Foreign Subsidies and hopes that the EU will translate the White Paper’s proposals which tackle the crucial issue of level playing field for EU companies exposed to fierce and unfair competition from third country players will translate into concrete and effective measures against distortive practices.
The White Paper recognizes a fundamental regulatory gap in existing EU legislation on competition, trade, public procurement and in EU funding as regards distortions arising from foreign subsidies in the Internal Market.
It also acknowledges that foreign subsidies can be driven by strategic objectives, such as establishing a strong presence in the EU, promotion of acquisitions and transferring technologies to production sites outside of the EU. Finally, the White Paper rightly points out to the fact that EU companies do not always compete on an equal footing with companies benefiting from foreign subsidies which are “artificially competitive” but “extremely aggressive and successful” in the markets they target.
FEPORT subscribes to the above-mentioned findings and has been supportive of the previous initiative of the Commission aiming at adopting an efficient FDI screening mechanism. However, we believe that there is a need for a more effective response. Europeans must acquire a better capacity to anticipate potential risks from FDI, including a common perspective regarding strategic assets and ecosystems.
In this respect, FEPORT hopes that the inclusion of the port sector as part of the ecosystem “Mobility-Transport-Automotive” will translate into policies that recognize the strategic nature of ports.
Ports are important strategic nodes for the connectivity of people and goods with the rest of the world and decisive entry points to the Single Market, particularly for energy and goods’ supplies and distribution. In addition to their role in value chain logistics, they also have geopolitical positions, as they may play a key role in emergency supply or military operations.
Distortions can be caused through state-owned enterprises of any nationality but the insights we provide in this paper aim at describing the situation today through the example of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises’ (SOEs)[1] investments as they are among the most active in the EU landscape.
FEPORT’s paper includes suggestions on how the EU can remain attractive for FDI while preserving the interests and the competitiveness of the EU port businesses.
The European Commission has recently acquired powers to ensure the protection of certain strategic EU assets from foreign investors from a national security or public order perspective.
However, according to the Commission, these instruments leave an enforcement gap, both when it comes to the review of acquisitions of EU companies by subsidised non-EU companies, and for the distortive effects of certain foreign subsidies on the internal market. This is certainly valid in the port sector.
First, as the White Paper notes, neither EU antitrust rules nor EU merger control regulations “specifically take into account whether an economic operator may have benefited from foreign subsidies (even if in principle it could form part of the assessment) and they do not allow the Commission (or Member States) to intervene and decide solely or even mainly on this basis”.
Second, the White Paper notes that financial support granted by third countries (either to undertakings active in the EU or to their parent companies outside the EU) is not covered by EU State aid rules.
Third, under national FDI screening mechanisms and the EU FDI Screening Regulation,[2] authorities may assess and block FDI based on security and public order grounds, but this does not explicitly include considerations of foreign state subsidies.
Finally, EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rules, themselves based on WTO Agreements, apply to the import into the EU of goods only, and – importantly – do not cover trade in services, acquisitions of EU companies or other financial flows in relation to the activities of undertakings in the EU.
FEPORT believes that, as stated above, there is indeed an enforcement gap relating to the distortive impact of foreign subsidies on the EU’s internal market and that the proposed new measures can contribute to close it.
The new proposed measures are complementary to EU merger control and EU antitrust rules. In a situation where a transaction would have to be notified under both Module 2 and the EU Merger Regulation (or national merger control regulations), there would be parallel proceedings.
As the Commission rightly notes “while subsidies may be taken into account when assessing for instance the financial strength of the merged entity relative to its rivals, the focus of the analysis of the significant impediment to effective competition is on the structure of competition in a given market, not on the existence or effects of foreign subsidies as such. A new instrument would therefore with its different objective complement the Merger Regulation.
If a given acquisition has to be notified under both such a new instrument and the Merger Regulation, the notification and possible assessment would be dealt with in parallel, but separately from each other under the respective instruments.”
FEPORT believes that the new tools are complementary to EU trade defence instruments and WTO Agreements as well as to the FDI screening mechanisms which will come into force in October 2020.
But while the FDI Screening Regulation does not introduce FDI screening at EU level but a limited soft harmonization of the assessment of threats to public security and public (i.e. critical or strategic) assets, the newly proposed instruments may provide the possibility to assess potential distortions in the internal market more broadly, without any limitation on the type of assets and in all sectors including ports.
[1] According to Business Europe, in 2017, there were around 174,000 companies in which the Chinese government, through special purpose vehicles, had a minority or majority shareholding.
[2] Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union [2019] OJ L79I/1.
23.09.2020 – FEPORT replies to the consultation on the Sustainable Mobility Strategy
FEPORT has replied to the consultation on the Sustainable Mobility Strategy. Developments and challenges that the transport sector is facing in relation to climate change and COVID-19 call for a change of paradigm and a more holistic approach.
The significant and destabilising impact the pandemic is having (and will continue to have) on the global economy and all forms of transport and mobility represents a unique opportunity to reconfigure post-COVID transport policy.
Prior to the pandemic, much of the emphasis was on transport demand Management, Smart Mobility, Intelligent Transport and Mobility Management approaches to transport policy.
Given budgetary constraints and political considerations, all policies were meant to mitigate the negative externalities of transport noise, emissions, congestion and accidents via a wide range of policy instruments, technological innovations, incentives and pricing mechanisms to support modal shift and to modify individual and corporate consumer behaviour. However, in the face of the growing climate emergency and current global public health crisis, these approaches alone will be inadequate in a post-COVID world.
FEPORT’s contribution will focus on the freight and logistics sector and will not tackle passenger mobility. However, we believe that mobility cannot be addressed by studying passenger or freight in isolation. Decision makers must address both together and identify if policies, infrastructure and energy sources really serve both and not one of the sectors.
The corona crisis is an opportunity like no other for us to rethink our mobility system holistically. In the past months, governments, companies, investors, and civil society to find ways to partner and seek solutions to shared problems. Such cooperation will be necessary going forward to craft more resilient freight systems to face the crises to come.
Policy makers’ role will also be crucial to undertake the review of outdated pieces of regulations that do not provide the expected benefits, distort competition between different actors of the logistics chain or hamper the emergence of new models of cooperation. Fiscal incentives, facilitation in accessing credit and loans to invest in sustainable equipment and innovative solutions will remain helpful tools to encourage transport and logistics operators to collaborate.
The post COVID-19 world will also call for recovery plans that will combine repairing the damage brought by the pandemic with existing sustainability initiatives. Such an approach will be important to keep momentum going as the world rebuilds. Conceiving policies that will support ecosystems instead of individual transport sectors certainly represent an innovative and sustainable avenue to explore.
In this challenging time, the long-term need to decarbonise freight transport could be understandably considered a lesser priority for public and private stakeholders. However, as the Corona crisis will pass but the climate crisis will not, it will be essential to look at the implications of the Corona crisis for freight transport decarbonisation.
Transport infrastructure investments must not be limited to roads but also include investments in other modes of transport such as rail and inland waterways. Investments into intermodal connections are crucial for realizing an integrated intermodal transport and logistics system and for maximizing the synergies and sustainability benefits of all modes of transport.
Port ecosystems represent a fantastic opportunity to attract industries and manufacturing centres into the vicinity of ports. Multimodal logistic infrastructures in ports can transform the role of ports be it on the seaside or on the hinterland side. Policy makers should work hand in hand with all port stakeholders to better understand the new dynamics of value chains to ultimately propose relevant accompanying measures and policies.
The COVID-19 crisis has shown how essential transport and logistics workers are. Member States should not forget it and invest in the human capital of people employed or interested in the transport and logistics industry to enhance their profiles. This will help the economy over time through lowered logistic costs and environmental benefits.
New models of cooperation between industry players could mitigate the crisis impacts but business model upon which port authorities and private companies operate is no longer a satisfactory option to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, regulatory frameworks and competition rules need to be rethought to support innovative models. Such a process can be facilitated by revising the regulations that are either outdated and which do not produce the expected benefits or adverse effects for other sectors.
Fiscal incentives, facilitation in accessing credit and loans for fleet renewal remain helpful tools to encourage operators to collaborate but governments can also support collaboration between logistics enterprises by facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration and knowledge exchange. In this respect, it is important that rules of governance with respect to digital data sharing are adopted in a near future as this will certainly contribute to accelerate the pace of cooperation between stakeholders who are still reluctant to share data while avoiding risks of monopoly or dominant position of some actors.
28.09.2020 – ENMC Stakeholder meeting
On the 28th of September, FEPORT participated to the European Network of Maritime Clusters Stakeholder remote meeting.
Discussions offered to ENMC members the opportunity to exchange views about the COVID-19 impact as well on key priorities for the various sectors of the maritime cluster.
The participants also debated about the various recovery plans that Members States are elaborating to receive the funds of the Recovery Facility. All stakeholders underlined the necessity for the cluster to be able to show its strategic value for the EU and its economy.
Finally, the European Green Deal and its key themes were debated. The attendees stressed the need for clarity from policy makers and retour on investments, especially when talking of LNG and fuels that will be used in the transition period to reach the Green Deal targets.
29.09.2020 – Workshop on good staff scheduling and rostering practices
On the 29th of September, FEPORT joined over 60 other stakeholders attending the workshop on good staff scheduling and rostering practices in transport, organised by the Ecorys and WMP, authors of a study conducted for the European Commission.
The workshop was organised to allow stakeholders to provide a “reality check” based on their experience with respect to good staff scheduling and rostering practices implemented in the transport sector.
The study preliminary results show that most documented and reported good practices were found in companies and countries where collective agreements are the major source for regulating work time. In these countries the governments are more open to the social partners request demanding for better work-life balance, age-related work schedules, promotion of female employment, ect.
Regarding the first recommendations stemming from the study findings, the consultants suggested that:
- Company management and workforce should build a good work and trust relationship.
- The presence of trade unions to help in shaping work time flexibility options and ensuring employee buy-in to shift arrangements is important.
- All parties need to understand that flexibility can operate only within certain elements, such as regulation of working time and complex shift arrangements to ensure the continuity of services.
- An individual-focused and tailored approach to shift planning and rostering is the effective way to go, where and when possible.
FEPORT meetings
08.04.2020 Board of Directors – Remote
16.04.2020 Environment, Safety and Security Committee – Remote
22.04.2020 Social Affairs Committee – Remote
27.04.2020 Port Policy Committee – Remote
28.04.2020 Customs and Logistics Committee – Remote
06.05.2020 Board of Directors – Remote
25.06.2020 General Assembly – Remote
16.07.2020 Port Policy Committee – Remote
10.09.2020 Environment, Safety and Security Committee – Remote
14.09.2020 Port Policy Committee – Remote
17.09.2020 Board of Directors – Remote
25.09.2020 Social Affairs Committee – Remote
21.10.2020 Customs and Logistics Committee – Remote
04.11.2020 Port Policy Committee – Remote
05.11.2020 Environment, Safety and Security Committee – Remote
12.11.2020 Social Affairs Committee – Remote
18.11.2020 Board of Directors – Remote
03.12.2020 General Assembly – Remote
Institutional meetings
01.10.2020 EMPL Committee Meeting – Brussels
12.10.2020 ENVI Committee Meeting – Brussels
15.10.2020 EMPL Committee Meeting – Brussels
28-29.10.2020 TRAN Committee Meeting – Brussels
28-29.10.2020 EMPL Committee Meeting – Brussels
28-29.10.2020 ENVI Committee Meeting – Brussels
09-10.11.2020 ENVI Committee Meeting – Brussels
10.11.2020 TRAN Committee Meeting – Brussels
10.11.2020 EMPL Committee Meeting – Brussels
16.11.2020 EMPL Committee Meeting – Brussels
16.11.2020 ENVI Committee Meeting – Brussels
30.11-01.12.2020 TRAN Committee Meeting – Brussels
30.11-01.12.2020 ENVI Committee Meeting – Brussels
30.11-01.12.2020 EMPL Committee Meeting – Brussels
07.12.2020 ENVI Committee Meeting – Brussels
Other meetings
02.10.2020 Workshop on the social dimension of the transition to automation and digitalisation, focusing on the transport labour force – Brussels
05-06.10.2020 DBTG Conference - Rotterdam
22.10.2020 Nordlink Conference – Online event
26-29.10.2020 Connecting EU insights – Online event
04-05.11.2020 European Environmental Ports Conference – Rotterdam
04-05.11.2020 Global Liner Shipping conference – Hamburg
12.11.2020 Freight Forwarders Forum – Online event
18.11.2020 Digital Transport Days 2020 – Online Event
FEPORT Newsletter - September 2020