Mr President, in 1995, the Commission submitted the communication on the development of short sea shipping on the basis of the strategy which was formulated in the White Paper on the common transport policy. The second annual progress report on this draft is now before us. However, after five years, it has become clear that short shipping is still merely an empty promise which has not been kept, despite the verbal support by the Transport Council of 8 December 1999, which considered short sea shipping as a priority. We are not trying to boost the popularity of short sea shipping out of idealistic motives. It is a fact that transport shipping will increase by 70% in the next decade. It is impossible to meet this growing demand by road transport alone. Short sea shipping is therefore not a competitor of road transport, the train or transport using inland waterways, it is one of the modes in the transport chain. It is in everyone’s interest to keep the irritation communities are caused by the constant drone of through freight transport to a minimum. Transport should also be as clean as possible and in that respect too, short sea shipping meets high requirements. Speed might not be the main feature of short sea shipping, safety is. Weekend traffic bans and traffic jams are a curse to road transport. In many cases, short sea shipping can provide a solution to these problems if it is used in combination with other modes of transport. At the same time, I do not want to claim here that it is a panacea. We will take the pressure off quite substantially if we try to make the best use of all modes of transport and combine them in the best way we can. But in order to do this, a number of conditions do need to be met. In its communication, the Commission makes a distinct reference to industry itself. This is fine, but as rapporteur, I would like to add another dimension. There are some very specific aspects where mainly governments at national, local or regional level can add weight and can give short sea shipping a boost. In its communication, the European Commission provided a sound overview of the issue as a whole. Parliament and your rapporteur have looked at the Commission plans with a critical eye and tried, in consultation with all parties involved, as befits a Parliament, to compile this report. Industry was asked to raise practical issues which could, in their view, obstruct the development of short sea shipping. We are still awaiting this report. I would like to underline a few aspects. Once again, short sea shipping can only take off in Europe if it is considered an integral part of the transport chain. Connections with the hinterland in the form of rail, internal waterways and road are essential in this respect. As such, it is important that short shipping is integrated with other modes of transport and this means that infrastructure will need to meet certain requirements. Short sea shipping is also eminently suited to specialist transport. Cars are a good example of this. Innovation in the construction of specialist ships will prove decisive here and this could give our shipbuilding industry a shot in the arm. The sector’s image is also important and must clearly be cleaned up. The sector is suffering from excessive red tape. Procedures last forever. But increasingly, we can also point to many positive developments within the sector. Industry should take its responsibility there, for example, in the setting up of regional promotion and marketing agencies, but the market cannot do this on its own. Member States must lift obstructions. For example, the road transport monopoly springs to mind, with the impact this has on the levels at which short sea shipping should pitch its prices to tie in with Bilbao’s short sea port. At every level, excessive bureaucratic procedures and endless red tape accompany the cargo. This puts short sea shipping at a disadvantage compared to other modes of transport. Accordingly Parliament calls for this sector to be treated with the necessary flexibility, thus enabling this sector to acquire a better position in terms of affordability. For example, we have in mind the introduction of exemptions from pilot service in ports where captains can demonstrate they have a high level of experience. By the way, an irritating error has crept in to the erratum, where the experience of the pilot is referred to. This should, of course, be the captain, otherwise this is complete nonsense. The market is still fragmented at present. This is why in its report, Parliament points to the need for a one-stop-shop approach to offering logistical transport services to end users. These services should embrace all multi-modal transport services and should, in this way, counteract the fragmentation of the present services. In my report, I also call for incentives from the Commission, which are needed to promote short shipping. In view of the European connections, I would also ask for investment projects in mainly the Mediterranean Sea area and the ports along the Adriatic Sea. Short sea shipping requires destinations. You may have wonderful short sea terminals in Rotterdam, but you need to have a destination. The setting up of these new lines requires critical mass and it could be one or two years before these resources are available. The European Union will need to help out by providing cheap loans from the European Investment Bank in order to overcome this difficulty. Furthermore, we are lacking information and statistical data on which industry can base its investments. No one knows what we transport in what way, where to and in what quantities. I believe that statistical data on what we transport where is one of the things we need as a matter of urgency in order to pursue a policy for transport, which will grow at an amazing rate in the next couple of years.

Political group: PPE-DE