ESPO News Monthly Overview – January 2016

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ESPO News Monthly Overview – January 2016

Port of the Month: Helsinki (Finland) 29-01-2016 As Finland’s busiest passenger port, people are of great importance to the Port of Helsinki. Even while constructing a new terminal, the wellbeing and happiness of the inhabitants of the area and of the passengers are vital for the port. But at the same time, the Port of Helsinki specialises in unitised cargo services for Finnish companies engaged in foreign trade. We had a talk with this interesting port about its challenges and opportunities. Read more… EFSI January 2016 State of play: out of the 42 projects approved by the EIB so far, 8 projects are in the transport sector 29-01-2016 The European Commission published the state of play of EFSI (the so-called “Juncker Plan”) as of January 2016. Out of the 42 projects approved by the EIB so far, 8 projects are in the transport sector. From this first overview of the selected projects, the energy sector seems to be particularly active in taking advantages of the opportunities offered by these new EU financial instruments with 17 projects approved. Read more… ESPO welcomes the operational guidelines for places of refuge 28-01-2016 Yesterday, the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) together with all maritime industry stakeholders, the Commission and EMSA co-signed a joint declaration to express their support for the recently adopted EU Operational Guidelines on Places of Refuge. This took place during an event in the European Parliament organized by Gesine Meissner, MEP and President of the Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas (SEARICA) Intergroup of the European Parliament. Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, also joined the conference as a way to support the initiative. Read more… The inland DeltaPort gets PERS certified 28-01-2016 ESPO is delighted to congratulate DeltaPort GmbH (Germany) for achieving the Port Environmental Review System (PERS) certification after the positive evaluation of its application by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance at the end of December. DeltaPort is the first ever (purely) inland port that gets PERS certified Read more… TRAN: Presentation of the programme of the Dutch Presidency of the Council 26-01-2016 On 25 January, the Dutch Minister for Infrastructure and Environment, Ms Melanie Schulz Van Haegen, presented the priorities of the Dutch Presidency of the Council to the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Committee of the European Parliament. Focus will be on a few issues in order to target the action of the European Union and respect the principle of subsidiarity. Sustanaible mobility and innovation will represent the top priorities of the Dutch Preseidency. Read more… TRAN vote opens the way for acceptable legislative framework for ports 25-01-2016 This afternoon, the Transport Committee of the European Parliament has expressed its support (29 in favour, 13 against, 3 abstentions) for the compromise reached by MEP Knut Fleckenstein (picture) and the TRAN shadow rapporteurs on the proposal for a port regulation adopted in May 2013. Read more… Trio programme of the Presidencies of the Council of the European Union (January 2016 – June 2016) 05-01-2016 The Council published the so-called trio programme, prepared by the current Dutch and future Slovak and Maltese Presidencies and the High Representative, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Council. The trio sets long-term goals and prepares a common agenda for the Council for the next 18 months. It mainly covers five political pillars: 1) jobs, growth and competitiveness; 2) empowering and protecting citizens; 3) energy union and climate policy; 4) freedom, security, justice; 5) EU as a strong global actor. Read more…

Source: ESPO, 29 January 2016