News archives

Octobre 2007

Brussels, 18 October 2007 - Freight transport in Europe: new Commission initiatives aimed at achieving greater efficiency and sustainability
The European Commission today adopted a series of initiatives aimed at making freight transport in the EU more efficient and sustainable. This new package of measures consists of proposals concerning logistics, a rail network giving priority to freight, and European ports, as well as two documents on the barrier-free European maritime transport area and the motorways of the sea. The simultaneous adoption of all these measures gives a strong signal demonstrating the close links between logistics and the various modes of transport. The common objective of these initiatives is to promote innovative infrastructure technologies and practices, develop means of transport, improve freight management, facilitate the construction of freight transport chains, simplify administrative procedures and enhance quality throughout the logistic chain. Fore more informations, click here.

Août 2007

"Balkans Intermodal and Logistics Conference 2007"
The "Balkans International & Logistic Conference 2007" organising by " Intermodal & Logistic Promotion Centre of Bulgaria" will be held this year in Sofia. Durind the BIL Conference, will be held some accompaning events... This Conference is also sustained by the European Shortsea Network (ESN), the European Commission (DG TREN), European Itermodal Association (EIA), Shipowners Association (ECSA), European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP), International Union of combined Road-Rail transport companies (UIRR)...

For more informations, please, find the documents below : 1, 2, 3, 4.

JUILLET 2007

ESN ANNUAL REPORT
Press release

European Shortsea Network has recently publishes its annual report for 2006. It gives a brief overview of the activities of Shortsea Promotion Centres that are ESN member.

Motorways of the sea in the North Sea Region
The 2004 revision of the guidelines for the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) included the development of four Motorways of the Sea corridors as one of 30 priority projects, which will receive the bulk of EU funding under TEN-T.

The Motorway of the Sea corridor for Western Europe includes the North Sea. Since late 2006, representatives of the governments and authorities of the Netherlands, Belgium and the Flemish region of Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Norway along with representatives from industry have met regularly to draw up plans to encourage bids for EU funding. As an outcome of this work, we are now publishing this call.

For more information, see the "documentation" shedule.

JUNE 2007

Update from the Shortsea XML project
The second newsletter of shortsea XML brings you up-to-date with project developments and progress. Shortsea XML is an EU Marco Polo funded project working across the door-to-door logistics chain. Its aim is to develop a series of standardised forms to reduce the financial and administrative overhead of distributing core information. The forms will cover the mainstay processes of scheduling, booking, operations and invoicing as well as statutory reporting to shore authorities. Implementing the standardised messages will be inexpensive... For more informations, click here.

State aid for starting new Short Sea lines
The French Government initiated a state- aid device, designed to help financing the initiating of shortsea lines services. Operators, wishing to benefit of this aid for the current year should set up an application before september 10th, 2007. For more informations, click here.

State aid to combined transport operations
The call of proposals, launch on May 9th, 2007, by the the french Minister of transport, aims at listing combined transport operators wishing to benefit of the specific state aid for the year 2007. In order to satisfy the publication in the BOAMP and JOUE of May 25th, 2007, the applicaton deadline has been postponed to june 14th, 2007, at 4 pm. For more informations, click here.

MAI 2007

Sixth Framework Programme
WORK PACKAGE 2
THEMED WORK PROGRAMME
Pre-feasibility study on extending the scope of shortsea Promotion centres into Intermodality.
A majority of SPCs are willing to extend their activities to shortsea and intermodal promotion. These SPCs point out that they do not have enough resources for this expansion. The current financial position of many of the SPCs is weak. It is uncertain if the expansion of activities would widen the basis of funding. A more stable financial situation and support of authorities as well as business is a precondition for the undertaking of the expanded role for the SPCs. For more informations, see the "documentation" shedule.

APRIL 2007

Motorways of the sea between FRANCE and SPAIN: call for proposals
Relieving road traffic between Spain and France by shifting 100 000 to 150 000 trailers and semi-trailers per year from road to sea; such is the target of the call for proposal sent up by Franco Spanish intergovernmental committy. This call aims at creating and operating one or more motorways of the sea between French and Spanish ports on the North Sea, Channel and Atlantic coastline.

This call initiated by France and Spain is the first step in Western Europe towards the realisation of the concept of Motorways of the sea, with high frequency and quality of the service. These services must be reliable, frequent, and economically viable at term, and bring a good quality/cost ratio.

For this purpose, the French Agency Transports Infrastructures Financing (AFITF) is granting 41 M € budget in 2007. In Spain, the maximum subsidies will be 15 M€ for each motorway of the sea. The candidates will have untill 3th September 2007 to send their proposals; the selection will start end of 2007. The line(s) should be launched in 2008. Click here.

NB: prolongation du délai de remise des offres jusqu'au 5 novembre 2007 (CIG 29 JUIN 2007).
L'espace FAQ / "questions-réponses" vient d'ouvrir sur le site du Ministère
Pour tout renseignement complémentaire et pour poser vos questions : MIM.DTMRF.DGMT@equipement.gouv.fr

MARCH 2007

Brussels, 27th March 2007. Commission supports new freight transport services to fight road congestion and reduce environmental impact.
The European Commission has today published the first call for proposals for the creation of new freight transport services under the second Marco Polo programme. Successful projects should fight congestion on European roads and improve the environmental performance of the freight transport system, two main objectives of the EU transport policy. Companies across the European Union and beyond are invited to submit proposals in this second Marco Polo programme. Click here.

FEBRUARY 2007

Motorways ofthe sea : Now the Italian "ECOBONUS"
On January the 31st 2007, the Italian Minister of Transports, Alessandro Bianchi, issued the first executive decree regarding "Ecobonus" and the mapping of routes on profited by it.
Ever since five years when the law was passed, in fact, the Government predisposed and signed the first executive decree of the law which should unblock about 240 euro million allocated to propel vehicles to leave Italian roads, too engorged, and prefer maritime transports.
Every maritime connections, identified along Italian costs, except for Sardinia, can use the Ecobonus. For connection already operative, the contribution to auto carriers will be of 20% of the applied prices, but on new connections, identified trough a segmentation of coastal arcs in Tyrrhenian Sea and Adriatic ( North Adriatic, central and ionic; north and south Tyrrhenian; between Tyrrhenian arcs and French and Spanish Ports), the contribution will be of 30% of the applied prices.
The contribution value is calculated, as disposed by the art. 3 co. 1 DPR 205/2006, on difference between external costs generated by road transports and that of maritime transports of goods on each identified connection.
The contribution about maritime connections with MS' ports is calculated on the basis of the distance in road and maritime's km until the national border.
The decree April 11th 2006 n. 205 ("Reg. on the allocation and supply of stock in hand directed to innovation of goods transport on road system, development of logistic chain and intermodality") sets that enterprises should have these financing with rigorous conditions, or they have to give back the bonus: they have to guarantee a minimum number of 80 trip per year on the same connection and ensure, for the next three years, a road-sea combined quota same as that one they received the bonus the year before.
For information and explanations, please contact SPC ITALY at the email address: info@shortsea.it ; ph. number +39 06 69200569, fax n. +39 06 6795888 or visit the website www.shortsea.it Contact Persons: Mrs. Adriana Ranalli, Mrs. Antonella Esposito.
For more precision: ITALY, COMMISSION ENCOURAGES A TRANSFER OF GOODS FROM ROAD TO SEA 20th APRIL 2005.
The Commission authorised today a € 240 Million aid scheme for the next 3 years to encourage the transfer of heavy goods vehicles from road to sea. Subsidies will be granted to road haulage companies which make use of existing or new maritime routes instead of roads. Click here.

DECEMBER 2006

BRUSSELS, 14 december 2006 CAMPAIGN AGAINST BOTTLENECKS IN FREIGHT TRANSPORT LOGISTICS IN EUROPE.
The European Commission has today launched an exercise to identify and alleviate obstacles hindering the smooth running of the freight transport chain in Europe. In the framework of this so-called "bottleneck exercise", stakeholders and interested parties are invited to submit details of bottlenecks they have encountered. A bottleneck is any obstacle to freight transport logistics services, whether administrative, operational, legislative, local, national, Europe-wide or the like. Participants to the bottleneck exercise are also asked to identify effective solutions to these problems. Click here.

BRUSSELS, 1st december 2006 FORTY-FIVE FOOT CONTAINERS CAN CONTINUE CIRCULATING ON EUROPEAN ROADS.
Member States may still allow the circulation of forty-five-foot containers in national road transport. A 1996 Council Directive, laying down the rules for weights and dimensions in road transport, contains a ten year transition period that has so far allowed the carriage of forty-five-foot containers. The transition period will terminate at the end of this year, which has left stakeholders worried that this could lead to a total ban of forty-five foot containers from road transport. However, this will not be the case, in particular for the road legs of intermodal transport operations. Click here..

NOVEMBER 2006

MARCO POLO II CONFERENCE, Nantes, 30 November-1st December 2006 A SUPPORT PROGRAMME FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS...
The Marco Polo II Conference in Nantes was organised to inform about the MARCO POLO II Programme, which will follow MARCO POLO I from 2007 onward until 2013. Additionally examples of successful projects funded under MARCO POLO I were presented by project partners to the audience. About 270 participants from 27 European countries participated in this successful event, jointly organised by the Atlantic port of Nantes, the French Short Sea Shipping Promotion Centre and DG TREN. Click here .