WRITTEN QUESTION E-1737/03 by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Maritime transport of agricultural products from Almeria.
Date: 2003-05-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Netherlands, Spain, combined transport, common transport policy, intra-EU transport, maritime transport

C 33 E/162

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(15 July 2003)

As the Honourable Member notes, the Commission is not competent to act in this area. As a result, it
seems unlikely that public holidays could be harmonised in this way in the Member States.

(2004/C 33 E/159)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1737/03

by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Maritime transport of agricultural products from Almeria

(26 May 2003)

Shipping agents, agricultural exporters and the Almeria port authority (Spain) are conducting a short study
into the cost of a project to link Almeria to the Dutch port of Rotterdam. This maritime link would enable
farmers in Almeria to begin exporting fruit and vegetables in November.

The proposal is for a boat carrying 80 lorries to sail from Almeria each week from November to March.
The produce would be distributed by road from the Dutch port within a 350-kilometre radius (northern
France, Belgium and Germany).

Given that this is a ground-breaking proposal which would facilitate the export of Almerian agricultural
products to the heart of Europe while reducing goods traffic on the roads of central Europe, will the
Commission make a significant contribution to the project to establish this shipping route?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(2 July 2003)

The Commission has an established policy to promote Short Sea Shipping as a complement and alternative
to road transport. Increased use of Short Sea Shipping does not only alleviate land bottlenecks and
congestion on the road network, but can also help reach environmental and safety targets. Consequently, it
can play a major role in achieving the policy targets indicated in the Commission White Paper on
European Transport Policy for 2010 (1).

In this framework the Commission welcomes the willingness of agricultural exporters and importers and
the port authority of Almería to study the possibility of using Short Sea Shipping to replace the general
trend of utilising road transport to export those products from Spain to Benelux, Germany and France.

The Commission will be very interested in learning the results of the feasibility study and the commercial
viability of the planned service. In this context factors such as frequency, regularity, availability of return
cargo and type of ship and cargo carried (accompanied or unaccompanied trailers, containers, swap
bodies) will undoubtedly be carefully considered.

In this context the Commission would like to draw the attention to the new Marco Polo programme which
is scheduled for adoption in July 2003, with a call for proposals to be launched as soon as possible after
adoption. The Programme is concerned with the implementation international freight services shifting
freight of all segments of the market from road to short sea shipping, rail or inland waterway. If adopted,
the programme will run from 2003 to 2010, with annual calls for proposals. For further details the
Commission would refer to the new Marco Polo web site and helpdesk (http://europa.eu.int/comm/
transport/marcopolo/index_en.htm and tren-marco-polo@cec.eu.int).

(1) COM(2001) 370 final.