Contents 03 Paragraph Glossary I-IV Executive summary 1-25 Introduction 1-7 Main characteristics of port services in Europe 8-9 Services offered by port operators 10-16 Main policy and legislative initiatives in relation to ports 17-24 Funding of port infrastructure 25 Previous special report by the European Court of Auditors on ports 26-30 Audit scope and approach 31-101 Observations 31-49 EU and national port strategies: absence of timely and coordinated implementation of well‐planned extra port capacity was a key weakness 33-37 All five Member States visited had developed national port development strategies, but robust implementation plans and coordination were an issue 38-49 EU strategy on ports developed over time, but robust information on capacity planning still lacking 50-81 EU‐funded port infrastructures: unused or underused infrastructures, delays and cost overruns, and unsustainable investments because of funding of similar infrastructures in neighbouring ports 52-55 EU‐funded investments resulting in many unused or underused infrastructures 56-61 Delays and cost overruns in a number of projects 62-65 Poor value for money of the EU funding 66-73 Funding of similar infrastructures increasing the risk of unsustainable investments 74-81 Ineffective coordination between the Commission and the EIB on the funding of port infrastructure Contents 04 82-101 Creating a level playing field between ports: a need to better ensure that common rules such as state aid and customs controls are applied consistently 83-87 Need to better enforce state aid rules for ports at Member State and Commission level 88-92 A more proactive Commission role on state aid to ports necessary 93-99 Commission’s monitoring of Member States’ customs control practices does not cover key information 100-101 Blue Belt, or how maritime transport mode is at a disadvantage against road transport 102-114 Conclusions and recommendations Annex I Annex II Annex III Annex IV Annex V Annex VI — Spending of EU funds for maritime transport projects (2000‐2013 period) — Overview of projects examined per Member State — Overview of non‐completed projects — Main characteristics of Member States’ port systems, and overview of EU and EIB support for the audited port areas (2000‐2013 period) — Overview of user‐specific superstructures co‐funded with EU funding — Overview of state aid decisions since 2007 Reply of the Commission 
Innehåll 04 82–101 Att skapa konkurrens på lika villkor mellan hamnar: behov av att bättre säkerställa att gemensamma regler om statligt stöd och tullkontroller tillämpas konsekvent 83–87 Medlemsstaterna och kommissionen måste se till att bestämmelserna om statligt stöd för hamnar följs 88–92 Kommissionen måste bli proaktivare i fråga om statligt stöd till hamnar 93–99 Kommissionens övervakning av medlemsstaternas tullkontrollförfaranden omfattar inte viktig information 100–101 Blue Belt, eller hur sjötransporter är i underläge mot landsvägstransporter 102–114 Slutsatser och rekommendationer Bilaga I Bilaga II Bilaga III Bilaga IV Bilaga V Bilaga VI — Fördelning av EU-medel för sjötransportprojekt (perioden 2000–2013) — Översikt över granskade projekt per medlemsstat — Översikt över projekt som inte slutförts — De viktigaste särdragen hos medlemsstaternas hamnsystem, och en översikt över EU:s och EIB:s stöd till de granskade hamnområdena (perioden 2000–2013) — Översikt över användarspecifik suprastruktur som medfinansierats av EU — Översikt över beslut om statligt stöd från och med 2007 Kommissionens svar