IP/04/1212
Brussel, 13 oktober 2004
De Commissie stelt nieuwe maatregelen voor om de toegang tot de markt voor
havendiensten te verbeteren
De Europese Commissie heeft vandaag een nieuw voorstel goedgekeurd
voor een richtlijn inzake de toegang tot de markt voor havendiensten,
met de bedoeling het concurrentievermogen van de havens in de EU te
vergroten en congestie en milieuverontreiniging te helpen verminderen,
onder meer door de zeescheepvaart te bevorderen. Met deze nieuwe
EU-wetgeving worden specifieke en duidelijke regels ingevoerd inzake
de toegang tot de markt voor havendiensten - nagenoeg de enige
vervoerssector waarvoor er nog geen communautair wetgevingskader is -
en wordt gezorgd voor gelijke kansen in de concurrentiestrijd tussen
havens. "Ik ben ervan overtuigd dat dit nieuwe voorstel nu de nodige
maatregelen bevat om de bezorgdheid over verschillende punten uit het
vorige voorstel weg te nemen", beklemtoonde vice-voorzitter Loyola de
Palacio, die bevoegd is voor de portefeuilles vervoer en energie. "Er
moet dringend een evenwicht worden gevonden tussen
concurrentievermogen en kwaliteit van de dienstverlening in de havens
van de EU, die van doorslaggevend belang zijn voor de ontwikkeling van
de korte vaart. Zonder een duidelijk en transparant kader komen er
geen `snelwegen van de zee'," voegde zij eraan toe.
De markt van de havendiensten wordt gekenmerkt door de complexiteit en
de verscheidenheid van de geldende nationale en andere voorschriften,
de heterogene aard van de havendiensten en de diversiteit van de
havens (o.m. wat betreft status, eigendom, beheerstype,
financieringspraktijken, grootte, functie en geografische kenmerken).
Daarom moet voldoende rekening worden gehouden met de eigen aard van
elke haven en het belang daarvan voor de gebruikers, exploitanten,
eigenaars, enz.
Dit zijn de belangrijkste kwesties die in het nieuwe voorstel van de
Commissie aan de orde komen:
* Concurrentie binnen havens (concurrentie tussen leveranciers van
dezelfde havendiensten binnen een haven).
Doel is te zorgen voor een efficiënte verlening van havendiensten,
d.w.z. diensten van commerciële waarde die tegen betaling aan
havengebruikers wordt verleend. Betaling van deze diensten is normaal
niet inbegrepen in de lasten die worden aangerekend voor het recht om
een haven aan te doen of erin te werken. Deze diensten kunnen zowel
binnen het havengebied als op de waterwegen naar en van de haven
worden verleend.
* Concurrentie tussen havens (gelijke kansen in de onderlinge
concurrentiestrijd).
Doel is te komen tot een transparanter kader inzake de financiering
van haveninfrastructuur.
De nieuwe tekst van de Commissie is gebaseerd op haar oorspronkelijke
voorstel van 2001 en het gewijzigde voorstel van 2002, alsmede op
talrijke constructieve amendementen die zijn voortgekomen uit de
bemiddelingstekst, de twee lezingen van het Europees Parlement, het
gemeenschappelijk standpunt van de Raad en het overleg met
belanghebbenden en andere betrokken partijen.
Annex
WHAT DOES NOT CHANGE?
* The scope of the Directive, i.e. annual the thresholds for the
ports covered, TEN Transport category A list - 1,5 mio tons and/or
200.00 passengers; and the port services concerned: pilotage,
towage, mooring cargo and passengers handling (Articles 2 & 3.6).
* The neutrality of the Directive on the application by Member
States ("in no way affects the rights and obligations") of their
social legislation, including relevant national rules on health,
safety and employment of personnel (Article 4).
* The neutrality of the Directive on the application by Member
States ("in no way affects the rights and obligations") of law and
order, safety and security at ports as well as environmental
protection (Article 5).
* The criteria for granting authorisations should be objective,
transparent, non-discriminatory, relevant and proportional, and
should be made public (Article 7).
It is important to note that these criteria shall only relate, where
applicable, to
(a) the professional qualifications of the service provider and of his
personnel, his sound financial situation and sufficient insurance
cover,
(b) maritime safety or the safety and security of the port or access
to it, its installations, equipment and persons,
(c) compliance with employment and social rules, including those laid
down in collective agreements, provided that they are compatible with
Community law,
(d) compliance with local, national and international environmental
requirements,
(e) the development policy of the port.
* The reasons for introducing a limitation in the number of service
providers for one or more port services must be objective and are
enumerated, reasons or constraints relating to available space or
capacity, safety considerations or requirements deriving from
environmental regulations (Article 3.12). The highest possible
number of service providers must be allowed (Article 9).
* The neutrality of the competent authority regarding decisions on
limitations in the number of service providers and on selection
procedures must be assured (Articles 8 & 9).
* For pilotage the Commission proposes the text which was approved
during the conciliation procedure (Article 14). Pilotage is
therefore included in the scope of the Directive and recognized as
a service of a commercial nature. However, particular emphasis is
put on the key importance of service specificities it is subject
to.
In particular, it is allowed to submit authorisations to particularly
strict criteria related with public service obligations and maritime
safety. For this purpose, competent authorities may, on a case by case
basis, either reserve to themselves, or directly grant an exclusive
right to an organisation for the provision of pilotage services in a
port. Adoption of port-specific solutions is thus allowed.
It should be noted that, self-handling for pilotage is included in the
Directive in the form of Pilotage Exemption Certificates (PECs).
* Transparent accounting for the managing body of the port is
required.
* The issue of inter port (between ports) competition is addressed
as well. Therefore as already agreed in conciliation by the
Commission, the EP and Council:
(a) The text providing for the application of the financial
transparency directive to all ports covered by the legislative
proposal is included (Article 16).
(b) The State Aid Guidelines text agreed is also included. This
provides for State Aid guidelines to be adopted by the Commission
within a year after the adoption of the Directive (Article 17).
WHICH ARE THE INNOVATIONS - main new elements?
* Authorisations for service providers become mandatory and a system
for granting authorisations is established (Article 7). The
Commission wishes in this way to reconcile the need to allow
efficient and effective access of competent port service providers
with the need to ensure proper management of a port with its
inherent constraints as well as to ensure a satisfactory level of
professional qualifications.
Within a certain time frame following the entry into force of the
Directive all providers of port services in a port will have to
operate on the basis of an authorisation.
Authorisations granted prior to the entry into force of the Directive
need to be reviewed, since they were not granted in conformity with
its rules and stipulations. However, at the same time account has to
be taken of legitimate expectations of current service providers. The
system will also apply for new authorisations to be granted after the
entry into force of the Directive. The timeframe set is a maximum of
18 months after the latest possible date for transposition of the
Directive (18 + 18 months).
The proposed system allows for an authorisation simply to be granted
without any further requirements, but it also foresees the possibility
for this to be done through a selection procedure (described in
Article 11), either if a port authority so decides and/or an existing,
or new, service provider so asks.
* The method used for granting the authorisation will also determine
what will happen in the event of a later limitation in the number
of service providers of a port service (Article 10).
If and when a limitation in the number of service providers arises:
* an authorisation which has been granted through a selection
procedure must remain in force unchanged.
* an authorisation which has been granted without a selection
procedure will have to be terminated and a selection procedure
will have to be launched.
Compensation is always foreseen for the existing service provider for
his past investments which have not yet been fully amortised if he
does not win the selection procedure. This compensation shall into
account the overall economic balance of the service provided during
the previous period, according to clear and pre-established criteria.
Provisions for authorisations which include property and ownership
rights in a port are somewhat different, as their specificity has been
taken into account.
* Durations of authorisations for service providers (Article 12) are
still linked to the investment made by the service provider. The
time frames proposed are in line with real general depreciation
rules applied in the EU. They are higher than those originally
proposed in 2001, but lower that those of the conciliation text.
* As a general rule, self-handling operations may be provided using
the land-based personnel of the self-handler (Articles 3.9 & 13).
Use of land-based personnel to carry out self-handling will increase
employment in ports, with the local communities the first
beneficiaries. Needless to say that personnel will have to be employed
in full respect of the applicable national and Community rules dealing
with employment and social issues, following the same general rules
and conditions set for all other personnel involved in cargo handling.
In addition to using land-based personnel, ships providing an
authorised regular shipping service in the context of Short Sea
Shipping or operating on Motorways of the Sea may, in addition, carry
out self-handling using the ship's regular sea-faring crew (article
13.2).
Authorised regular shipping services, Short Sea Shipping and Motorways
of the Sea operations are EU policies whose main aim is to reduce land
(road) transport. The latter are defined in Decision no 884/2004/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 200, amending
Decision No 1692/96/EC on Community guidelines for the development of
the trans-European transport network.
The EU is supporting increased recourse to them in various manners,
including financing through Community funds. It would thus only be
normal to further encourage them through Community legislation.
It should be stressed that an authorisation is needed for all kinds of
self-handling. The criteria for granting such authorisations must be
the same as those applying to providers of the same or a comparable
port service, provided these are relevant (see above, art. 7).
Competent authorities shall grant such authorisations to self-handlers
in an efficient and expedient manner. Authorisations for self-handling
shall remain in force so long as the self-handler complies with the
criteria for granting them.
It is important to note that the right to self-handle in no way affect
the application of national rules concerning training requirements and
professional qualifications, employment and social matters, including
collective agreements, provided that they are compatible with
Community law and the international obligations of the Community and
the Member State concerned.
European Commission