Contribution of the European Sea Ports Organisation to the online public consultation on an EU Contingency plan for transport
27 September 2021
The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomes the Commission’s objective to draw up a Contingency plan for transport, which aims to provide guidance for European freight and passenger transport in times of crisis, by drawing on lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given the strategic importance of ports for the European economy and security of supply, ESPO would like to contribute to the development of the Contingency plan for transport by highlighting a number of priorities. First of all, ESPO wants to stress that European ports remained operational during the COVID-19 crisis, showing that the current governance models of European ports, whereby the port can proactively develop strategies and set out its own crisis management, are a solid basis in situations where the critical role of ports is coming to the forefront. Secondly, ESPO would like to fully supports the ‘Green Lanes’ concept, which ensured that those border crossings throughout the EU remained open for the transportation of goods. Finally, European ports would like to stress that in case of crisis situations, such as COVID-19, transport and port workers should be designated as essential workers in order to guarantee that ports remain fully operational.
Please find the full text of the contribution of ESPO to the development of an EU contingency plan for transport below.