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 If our government and Members of  this almost defunct Parliament transfer sovereignty over our remaining Seas and Oceans to the EU, to give it or allow the EU, authority over our ports and seas, without a truthful, honest and full debate to all the British people and insist that they  have a referendum on this particular subject-no telling the people that it is just a tidying up exercise- before any EU Directive, Regulation of Law and/or Treaty is signed.  If that does not happen, I will call all of them traitors to their Country. 

 

How can we have a British Navy if Britain has no waters of its own for them to train in?  Are we to have an EU Navy?  Let us have some TRUTH, for once just let us have some truth.  Anne

EU to build 'Motorways of the Sea'

HELENA SPONGENBERG

Today @ 09:46 CET

EUOBSERVER / FOCUS – The European Union wants to move more transport off the roads and onto the sea in an effort to fight growing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions in Europe.

The so-called Motorways of the Sea (MoS) are set to make fundamental changes to the European transport sector as a "real competitive alternative to land transport," according to the European Commission, which wants the Motorways of the Sea to be as simple to use within ten years time as the trucking of goods on land is today.

EU wants short-haul shipping to be as smooth as road freight within the next ten years (Photo: EUobserver.com)

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The EU executive wants to see set up regular maritime links between different EU seaports, to form a transportation system – for both goods and people – at sea, which will overcome road transport bottlenecks while at the same time reaching the 27-member bloc's outlying regions and islands more easily.

In its 2007, Report on the Motorways of the Sea, the EU executive states that "both energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases per tonne-kilometre are lower than for any other mode of land-based transport and the investment costs for Motorways of the Sea are only a fraction of the cost of new terrestrial motorways."

The Motorways of the Sea concept was first introduced within the EU executive's White Paper on European Transport Policy back in 2001.

So far, four MoS corridors are underway to be fully working by 2010, which are divided into the Baltic Sea, the 'Sea of Western Europe', the 'Sea of South-East Europe' and the 'Sea of South-West Europe'.

Brussels is providing financial support for the start up of MoS projects and for investment in the infrastructure needed for such plans through the TEN­T programme and the Marco Polo programme, which have a combined budget of €700 million for the period 2007-2013 for transport and maritime projects in the bloc.

The financial support is offered despite the EU executive arguing that the setting up of viable Motorways of the Sea links should ultimately be delivered through private sector initiatives.

EU member states and the commission are also currently looking into how to smooth the progress of state aid to the development of ports and infrastructure connecting the ports with inland transport.

The European Commission expect to take a first step already during this autumn in the form of a clearer and more coherent interpretation of the state aid guidelines for maritime transport.

EU transport ministers gathering at an informal meeting in La Rochelle at the beginning of the month discussed among other things how to ease the funding procedures for the further development of the Motorways of the Sea, including state aid and how the European Investment Bank can help.

Earlier this month the European Investment Bank signed a €81 million loan deal with the Grimaldi Group, an Italian private shipping company, aimed at expanding its fleet for the Motorways of the Sea in the Mediterranean.

In relation to the loan, Emanuele Grimaldi from the Grimaldi Group described in a statement that the Motorways of the Sea are "a strategic infrastructure that is often underrated but which is crucial for economic growth and European cohesion."

Europe's economy needs Europe's seas and large river systems for increased diverse mobility in order to continue on a path of sustainable growth, in accordance with the Lisbon agenda, argues the commission.

Market-driven

However, some worry about how funding for Motorways of the Sea might have an adverse effect on competition.

"On the one hand, we support the development of short-haul maritime transport as an environmental-friendly alternative to road transport, but on the other hand, we are wary of the implications this may have on competition between ports," Patrick Verhoeven from the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) told the EUobserver.

"In our view, the [MoS] concept should essentially be market-driven, and financial support under the EU umbrella should focus mainly on infrastructure, especially where it concerns hinterland connections to and from ports," Mr Verhoeven added.

He also pointed out that MoS routes should not be "artificially" created with government or EU funds, but be created from demand and said that "other critical factors" included the need for more flexible customs, administrative procedures and efficient services in the ports.

Alfons Guinier from the European Community Ship-owners' Association (ECSA) agrees that the administrative burden is still too big when it comes to shipping in Europe.

"A lot has happened but there is still much to do to improve short-sea shipping in Europe," he told the EUobserver.

Mr Guinier argued that customs, for example, should differentiate more between goods from EU countries and non-EU countries, which would lead to a smaller customs burden for EU goods and thereby improve the movements of goods by sea within the European Union.

According to the European Commission, the administrative burden for the Motorways of the Sea will be reduced through a forthcoming 'maritime space without barriers' initiative, which is expected to come out this autumn.