Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Mid-Term Review of the Programme for the Promotion of Short Sea Shipping [COM(2003) 155 final] COM(2006) 380 final
Date: 2007-04-25
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: ESC opinion, EU programme, common transport policy, maritime transport

C 168/68

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

20.7.2007

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the
Commission to the Council,
the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Mid-Term Review of the Programme for the
Promotion of Short Sea Shipping [COM(2003) 155 final]

the European Parliament,

COM(2006) 380 final

(2007/C 168/14)

On 13 July 2006 the European Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 22 March 2007. The rapporteur
was Mr Chagas.

At its 435th plenary session, held on 25 and 26 April 2007 (meeting of 25 April), the European Economic
and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 108 votes with two abstentions.

1. Conclusions

treated as domestic rather than international transport, with
obvious benefits in terms of simpler customs procedures.

1.1
The EESC has consistently supported measures aimed at
developing short sea shipping on account of its potential for
growth and job creation and as an alternative to other,
less
environment-friendly modes of transport, thereby helping to
reduce road congestion, accidents and noise and air pollution.

1.2
In its opinion on the programme that was presented in
2003, the EESC emphasised the need to ensure the vital role of
the focal points as a bridge to the industry, and to facilitate inte-
gration into an intermodal logistics system. The EESC calls for
greater efforts on the part of the Member States and the social
partners to develop the network of focal points.

1.3
The Commission and the Member States must, as a
matter of urgency, assume responsibility for creating conditions
conducive to the development of different transport modes, not
only by providing infrastructure to facilitate intermodality, but
also by filling the gap left by the industry's inability to deal with
the lack of real additional cooperation for not only economic,
but also social and environmental sustainability.

1.4
The EESC notes the progress achieved with the actions
proposed in the 2003 programme for the promotion of short
sea shipping, and calls for the rapid implementation of the
other planned actions, especially the removal of identified obsta-
cles. Developing the focal points and extending their scope to
encompass the promotion of inland multimodality and related
logistics could help to achieve the desired results.

The EESC considers that

1.5
the present communication
should mention creating a Common EU Maritime Space, a step
which could make a decisive contribution to giving short sea
shipping a prominent role in intra-Community goods transport.
It would be entirely logical for shipping between EU ports to be

2. Background

In 2003 the

European Commission

2.1
a
programme to promote short sea shipping (1), in response to an
invitation by the Council of Transport Ministers to the Commis-
sion and the Member States with a view to ensuring both its
growth and also its effective integration into existing intermodal
transport chains.

adopted

2.2
This programme comprised 14 actions, five of them of a
legislative nature, four technical and five operational, subdivided
into practical measures and accompanied by deadlines.

In the opinion it adopted at the time (2), the EESC high-
2.3
lighted the need for ‘strict
the deadlines
proposed by the Commission’, and pointed out that ‘without
certain bottlenecks being removed short sea shipping cannot
evolve into intermodality’.

implementation of

3. The Communication from the Commission

3.1
The present Communication from the Commission
reviews the state of implementation of the measures set out in
the programme presented in 2003, evaluating the progress
achieved on these actions to date, and advocates a way forward.

3.2 Legislative actions

— Directive on certain reporting formalities for ships (IMO-
FAL) (3): transposition of the directive into national legisla-
tion is almost complete;

(1) COM(2003) 155 final.
(2) CESE 1398/2003, rapporteur: Mr Chagas. OJ C 32, 5.2.2004.
(3) International Maritime Organisation's Facilitation Forms.

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— the Marco Polo subvention programme (identifying Motor-
ways of the Sea as a specific new action, in which definition
of the concept is complete; the first Motorways of the Sea
will be operational in 2010) is mid-way to completion;

— the final adoption of the Commission proposal for a Direc-

tive on Intermodal Loading Units is still pending;

— Directive 2005/33/EC introduces improved environmental
in particular in the areas of SOx, NOx and

performance,
particulates.

3.3 Technical actions

— the Guide to Customs Procedures for Short Sea Shipping has

been completed;

— identification and elimination of obstacles to making short
sea shipping more successful than it is today (e.g. removing
administrative obstacles): half-way to completion;

— approximation of national applications and computerisation
of Community Customs procedures: the New Computerised
Transit System (NCTS) has been operational since 2003; the
action is half-way to completion;

— Research and Technological Development:

the Thematic
Network of Short Sea Shipping, REALISE, finalised its work
at the end of 2005. The action is half-way to completion.

3.4 Operational actions

— one-stop administrative shops: the action is more than half-

way to completion;

— the Short Sea Shipping Focal Points are representatives of
national maritime administrations that consult the Commis-
sion: the action is more than half-way to completion;

— the Shortsea Promotion Centres operating in Europe offer
neutral, impartial advice on the use of short sea shipping.
The action is more than half-way to completion. Extension
of the centres' geographical scope will continue in order to
secure at least their financial security;

— improving the image of short sea shipping (e.g. through the
European Shortsea Network): the action is more than half-
way to completion;

— statistical

information: a first tool, already being tested in
Eurostat, would allow coherent
comparisons between
modes; the currently available conversion matrix will need
to be further refined.

3.5
The Commission concludes that the proposed actions
were the right ones, but considers that new targets with new
deadlines are needed in some cases. In others, it seeks to make
targets more precise or to broaden them. It also indicates that
Community ports need to be better integrated into the logistics
chain.

4. General comments

4.1
The EESC has consistently supported measures aimed at
developing short sea shipping on account of its potential for
growth and job creation and as an alternative to other,
less
environment-friendly modes of transport, thereby helping to
reduce road congestion, accidents and noise and air pollution.

Successive programmes and measures to promote short
4.2
sea shipping have produced significant
results which are
reflected firstly, in average per annum growth of 3.2 % since
2000 (8.8 % for containerised cargo) and secondly,
in the
removal of a considerable number of obstacles identified as
hampering greater development of the sector: of the initial 161
such bottlenecks, only 35 remain. This number presumably
includes those which are most difficult to remove, meaning that
this path must be vigorously pursued.

At

its meeting of 11 December 2006,

4.3
the Council
adopted a series of conclusions concerning the Communication
from the Commission, together with recommendations on the
legislative
and
promotion of short sea shipping and cooperation between the
Member States and the Commission, and in general supporting
the measures proposed in the mid-term review.

strengthening the development

framework,

In evaluating the results of the programme some three
4.4
years after its adoption, the Commission considers that it is
‘more than half-way to completion’, although it states that short
sea shipping needs to be more tightly integrated into the ‘logis-
tics supply chain’. It emerges however that a significant propor-
the proposed measures should already have been
tion of
completed. One example of such delay is Action No. 14 on
statistical information, which was proposed in a communication
as far back as 1992. An initial tool is now being tested in Euro-
stat.

In its opinion (4) on the programme that was presented
4.5
in 2003, the EESC emphasised the need to ensure the vital role
of the focal points as a bridge to the industry, and to facilitate
integration into an intermodal logistics system. The EESC calls
for greater efforts on the part of the Member States and the
social partners to develop the network of focal points.

4.6
It is not clear that a ‘multimodal … supply chain’ actually
exists, although the Commission uses the expression: the aggre-
gate of various logistics systems and intermodal networks
cannot be taken to be a multimodal chain as such. The lack of
coordination and cooperation between the different transport
segments is clearly the main obstacle to establishing and devel-
oping a coherent and sustainable Community transport policy.

(4) See footnote 2.

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4.7
The Commission and the Member States must, as a
matter of urgency, assume responsibility for creating conditions
conducive to the development of different transport modes, not
only by providing infrastructure to facilitate intermodality, but
also by filling the gap left by the industry's inability to deal with
the lack of real additional cooperation for not only economic,
but also social and environmental sustainability.

5. Specific comments

5.1 Legislative actions

5.1.1
Of the measures proposed, only the introduction of
new European Intermodal Loading Units has not been carried
out. A number of economic actors expressed serious reserva-
tions about the proposal, arguing that the adoption of new
models for loading units should take place at international,
rather than purely European, level. The EESC also voiced some
of these concerns to which adequate answers are required. The
Commission recently re-opened the debate on this proposal,
and it appears that a readjustment, intended to ensure that the
introduction of a new container model does not necessarily
the
entail changes to existing models, could meet some of
concerns expressed.

5.1.2
The Marco Polo programme must continue to play an
important part in funding and developing new and existing
lines. Including Motorways of the Sea as a specific new action
could help to bring this about. However, some uncertainty
persists regarding the Motorways of the Sea concept. While the
idea of not restricting their application to TEN-T is to be
supported,
introduction must be transparent and not
generate any distortion of competition.

their

5.1.3
The industry's efforts in the area of environmental
performance are producing positive results. However, further
improvements in performance are needed, regardless of compar-
isons with other transport modes. Investment in research and
development for cleaner fuel and engines must be stepped up
and actively encouraged. Community legislation in this area
should be reviewed in line with possible developments. Invest-
ment should also be made in modernising certain segments of
the Community fleet.

Brussels, 25 April 2007.

The EESC does not understand why the present
5.1.4
communication makes no mention of
the creation of a
Common EU Maritime Space, as discussed in other documents
such as the Green Paper on a future maritime policy, the mid-
term review of the 2001 White Paper, and the Communication
on goods logistics. To do so could make a decisive contribution
to giving short sea shipping a prominent role in intra-Com-
munity goods transport. It would be entirely logical for shipping
between EU ports to be treated as domestic rather than interna-
tional
transport, with obvious benefits in terms of simpler
customs procedures.

5.2 Technical actions

The EESC notes

5.2.1
the progress achieved with the
proposed technical actions, and urges the Commission and the
Member States to press ahead with implementing them. It is
the contact groups between the
particularly important
different
their work to identify
common solutions to deal with the remaining obstacles.

administrations

continue

that

5.3 Operational actions

5.3.1
One of the Commission's main conclusions regarding
the application of the measures is that the scope of the Shortsea
Promotion Centres
the
promotion of inland multimodality and related logistics. It is
vital
to step up cooperation between the various logistics
segments by promoting cooperation between them.

should be extended to encompass

5.3.2
Similarly, the contact groups could help to devise local
and/or regional solutions to remove obstacles to enhanced short
sea shipping performance. The involvement of the social part-
ners, as well as of the Maritime Industries Forum (MIF), should
be encouraged.

The provision of reliable, harmonised and full informa-
5.3.3
tion is an important element. As mentioned above, this need
was identified in an earlier communication in 1992. The EESC
recognises the progress made recently, and calls upon the
Commission and the Member States to focus more attention on
this issue.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS