Mediterranean European ports advocate for European Commission legislative measures and investments to benefit the competitiveness of community ports compared to third countries. This is one of the conclusions of the debate generated at an event Exploring opportunities and challenges within the framework of the European Global Gateway Strategy, organized by the Algeciras Bay Port Authority (APBA) and the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) within the framework of Sun&Blue 2025, the largest European congress on the Blue Economy.
The president of the APBA, Gerardo Landaluce, moderated the sharing of topics of full relevance for Mediterranean ports, a meeting which was attended by the secretary general of ESPO, Isabelle Ryckbost; the deputy director of Strategy and Business Development of Puertos del Estado, Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena; the deputy general manager of the Port of Barcelona, Santiago García Milá; the director of development and intermodal solutions of the Port of Marseille, Amal Louis; and the professor and expert in ports and logistics, Peter de Langen.
The meeting highlighted the need for Europe to have policies that reinforce the competitiveness of its port sector. The session addressed the new roles that ports are assuming in terms of energy autonomy or defense, in addition to the investment being made to decarbonize maritime transport, collaborative logistics, or the opportunity offered by strategic cooperation initiatives, such as the recent agreements of the Port of Algeciras with SIECA (Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration) and the Panama Canal to facilitate trade relations and green and digital corridors between the EU and Central America.
In his speech, Landaluce emphasized that “ports are increasingly taking on more and new responsibilities in different areas, such as energy, defense, or external projection, which is why it is necessary for the European Commission to reinforce these critical and at the same time strategic infrastructures and not hinder competitiveness against third countries, especially in the case of European Mediterranean ports.”
The reflections and conclusions drawn from this debate will form part of ESPO’s working documents for the definition of the future European Port Strategy, on which the European Commission is currently working.
