Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 18 January 2006 - Strasbourg

4.8. Market access to port services (vote)

– Before the vote:

  Paolo Costa (ALDE). – (IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I take the floor under Rule 168 of the Rules of Procedure, on behalf of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. I am not speaking as the chairman of the committee in question, although that role encourages me in formally calling for the draft directive to be referred back to committee. I am calling for a referral because it would have the same result as a rejection, with the difference that the opportunity to express our opinion during this parliamentary term would remain in the hands of this Parliament. We might otherwise run the risk of showing total acquiescence.

Today – and this is my reason – we are not ready to vote. We are ready neither in relation to the content nor on account of the emotional climate in which we are likely to vote. We are not ready in relation to the content because Parliament’s consultations on the proposal – and I apologise for my share in them – remained too concerned with the history of the first proposal that was rejected a few years ago. The debate this time has not allowed us to take account of the changes that have occurred in the world scenario, which is witnessing a revolution in port procedures, or to consider competition among ports, or to consider state aid in ports.

In brief, we are not ready because we are also likely to vote from an emotional point of view in a climate that may well force us into taking one of two inappropriate positions: either displaying arrogance …

(The President cut off the speaker)

  President. – Mr Costa, your request is quite clear. Under Rule 168, we ask for one speaker in favour and one against.

  Paolo Costa (ALDE). – (IT) Please let me finish. It is fundamental because of what happened the other evening outside this Chamber. We run the risk of either being arrogant towards those who have demonstrated quite properly, or instead being …

(The President cut off the speaker)

  Martin Schulz (PSE). – (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to express the opposition of the Socialist Group in this House to Mr Costa’s amendment, and will say two things to justify that stance. Let me begin with the last point that Mr Costa addressed. What went on here the day before yesterday was, predominantly, what one would expect of an ordinary demonstration by men and women who feel their social security threatened.

(Uproar and applause)

These men and women can count on us. Those who cannot count on Socialists such as ourselves are those who never wait to hear the end of an argument and those who believe that violence can be a political instrument. We are not in solidarity with them. They were in a minority, and we repudiate what they did.

(Applause)

Mr President, the ports package is ripe for the vote, it is ripe for rejection, and so we ask that the vote be proceeded with now.

(Applause)

  Jens-Peter Bonde (IND/DEM). – (DA) Mr President, we are well aware of what we are voting on, as we already were in 2003 when we rejected the proposal, and there is a large majority in this Chamber who will reject it again. With the procedure you are now proposing, this majority in favour of rejection will, however, be hidden in an attempt to have the matter referred back to committee. We should therefore take a vote in the Chamber on whether the proposals recommending rejection should be voted on before the procedural proposal. It is completely insane that the Presidency should administer a procedure that can conceal the attitude of the majority in this Chamber.

(The oral amendment was not accepted)

  Willi Piecyk (PSE). – (DE) Mr President, I just wanted to say, for the purposes of clarification, that those who want to throw out the port package must vote ‘yes’ in the first vote, that is ‘yes’ to its rejection, for the avoidance of any doubt. Please vote ‘yes’ in the first vote! Vote ‘yes’, and throw it out!

- After the vote:

  Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the Commission. (FR) Mr President, I will be brief. I made it clear throughout the debate that I was there to listen to Parliament and that I was awaiting Parliament’s vote. Before outlining what I intend to do, I should like very briefly to mention something that I regret has happened and something that I want to happen. Firstly, I regret that the procedure has not enabled Parliament to give its verdict on the amended text. Your rapporteur’s amendments were such as to allay certain fears on the part of the various actors in our ports, fears that were felt as much by businesses as by workers. In view of that, I pay tribute to the work of your committee. The Commission was in a position to accept the amendments. That is my regret dealt with.

Next, I should like us not to lose sight of the aim of this text, an aim that, I might add, often came up during yesterday’s debate. It is a question of helping European ports efficiently to respond to the increase in maritime traffic and to the risk of their becoming overstretched in terms of capacity. Efficient port services enable us to increase European competitiveness and to facilitate growth and employment.

Obviously, I will give the College of Commissioners a faithful account of yesterday’s debate and of today’s vote. I will suggest that it draws conclusions from them. I will also suggest that it continue the work being done with all of the actors concerned – the Member States, operators, users and trade unions – in cooperation with Parliament, in order to lay the foundations of a European port policy that enables us to manage and to reassure investors. I hope, in fact, to provide, in the best possible way, the answers European ports are waiting for, whether in relation to the transparency of tariffs or to the use of infrastructure, to recourse to State aid or, more globally, to the integration of the ports into the intermodal chain. Our debate has clearly highlighted the need for every aspect of this overall approach.

(Applause from the right)