Activites

• 2001/04/24 Final act published in Official Journal
• 2000/07/07 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T5-0348/2000 summary

    The European Parliament adopted the report drafted by Mrs Karla M.H. PEIJS (EPP/ED, Nl) on the resolution in response to the Commission's second two-yearly progress report on the development of short sea shipping. The resolution calls on the Commission and the Council to take steps to increase the contribution of this form of shipping to the European transport system. The European Parliament calls on the Commission to consider more closely the question of the links between short sea shipping and river transport or other means of transport such as railways or infrastructures for access by land, so as to ensure that both the industrial and commercial sectors enjoy the infrastructures necessary to sustain their economic activities properly. With regard to the environment, the Commission is called upon to take appropriate measures in the near future to eliminate the environmental shortcomings of short sea shipping, i.e. emissions of NOx and SO2; such measures could include a directive on the permitted emission values of new ship's engines or a directive on minimum quality standards for bunker oil used in old(er) ships' engines. Moreover, the Parliament calls upon the competent authorities of the Member States and ports to exempt short sea shipping from charges for waste disposal at port reception facilities if it can be demonstrated that they are able to dispose of the waste at another port and to lay down relevant rules in such a way that routes which are in the process of being established and which are not yet used on an entirely regular basis are still able to benefit. It is also provided for to standardise loading units by the competent international committees, to seek in future the standardisation of containers used in deep-sea transport. In addition, the Parliament calls for joint investment programmes to be drawn up in the Mediterranean area, in the Adriatic and in the ports of the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira, taking account in particular of: - incentives for short-sea shipping lines; - simplification of customs and embarkation procedures. In conclusion, the European Parliament calls on the Commission and the Member States to submit a uniform European framework so that, once experience of the capitain has been verified, the exemption of short sea shipping from pilot services may be requested, and calls on the competent authorities of the Member States and ports to implement this swiftly in accordance with the prevailing conditions.�

• 2000/07/06 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2000/05/23 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0139/2000
• 1999/10/25 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1999/06/29 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1999)0317 summary

    PURPOSE : to promote short-distance transport by sea in Europe (second two-yearly progress report). CONTENT : the Commission presented a communication on short-distance transport in 1995 and a follow-up report in 1997. The Commission is now presenting a new communication which contains a follow-up report. In its communication, the Commission reviews the possibilities offered by short-distance transport by sea in the framework of sustainable, safe mobility and studies the incorporation of this mode into Community logistic and intermodal chains, its image and the barriers to its development. There are 3 main reasons for promoting short-distance transport by sea in the Community, an activity which, like the Commission has noted, has developed considerably between 1990 and 1997: a) to favour sustainable development of transport in general by promoting this mode which constitutes an ecological and safe replacement to road transport the network of which is saturated; b) to reinforce cohesion within the Community, to improve links between Member States and between the regions of Europe and to revitalise the peripheral regions; c) to ensure that short-distance transport by sea becomes an integral part of the transport logistics chain and takes the form of a truly door-to-door service. In order to carry out these objectives, the Commission recommends taking the following measures: - working towards making sea transport safer and more ecological, and thus more sustainable, so that companies introduce these benefits as slection criteria in their commercial strategies; - working towards the integration of short-distance transport by sea in the intermodal transport chain. It is necessary to make this mode an interesting option for transport users by offering them door-to-door services which are of a high level of quality, regularity and frequency; - looking to combine the different modes and intervene in logistic management of the supply chains in order to offer complete door-to-door services with one single office; - look to combine, if possible, the short-distance transport by sea with, in particularly, more ecological modes of intermodal transport in the chain; - advertise short-distance transport by sea by making Round Tables participate and put them in charge of the relations in the Member States; - to prompt the port authorities to foresee the construction of terminals especially for short-distance transport by sea and reserve it to this activity; - to increase the production of ports so that short-distance sea transport is able to reply to supply demands just in time; - create a framework to invent the best port practices and disseminate the gathered information to the ports and their clients; - reconsider the obligation imposed in certain ports to systematically appeal to the pilot services; - create a Round Table in charge of examining questions relating to short-distance transport by sea; - continue the sum of infrastructure costs and study the concept of covered costs based on the same principles for all the modes of transport; - to foresee the adoption of the identical application forms in the Member States for the arrival and departure of vessels.�

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1999)0317
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A5-0139/2000
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0348/2000

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)