Пълен протокол на разискванията

Вторник, 16 януари 2024 г. - Страсбург

19. Разработване на цялостна европейска стратегия за пристанищата (кратко представяне)

  Sēdes vadītājs. – Nākamais darba kārtības punkts ir Tom Berendsen ziņojuma par visaptverošas Eiropas ostu stratēģijas veidošanu (2023/2059(INI)) (A9-0443/2023) īss izklāsts.

  Tom Berendsen, Rapporteur. – Voorzitter, beste commissaris, onze havens zijn de poorten naar Europa, maar we geven de sleutels in handen van China. Onder het motto van “open wereldhandel” en door de marktwerking hebben wij de afgelopen decennia de Chinese investeringen in Europese havens schrikbarend zien toenemen. In meer dan 22 Europese havens zien wij deze Chinese invloed. We zien het in Hamburg, in Piraeus en ook in de grootste haven van Europa, de haven van Rotterdam, is bijna 75 % van de containerterminalcapaciteit is in handen van bedrijven uit China en Hongkong. Het gaat in onze Europese havens niet alleen om de terminals, maar ook om Chinese scanapparatuur, Chinese hijskranen, Chinese camera’s.

Inlichtingendiensten waarschuwen al langer voor de groeiende Chinese invloed in onze havens. Ze benoemen het risico van spionage, van sabotage, van economische afhankelijkheid.

We kennen de agenda van China. Met de Nieuwe Chinese Zijderoute bouwen ze in de wereld een positie in kritieke infrastructuur op en zorgen ze ervoor dat landen steeds afhankelijker worden van hen. Die afhankelijkheid is een probleem. Die les moeten wij toch geleerd hebben bij het Russische gas?

Met invloed in de havens heeft China de mogelijkheid om onze import en export te frustreren en onze import op het gebied van defensiematerieel, kritische grondstoffen en energie te frustreren. Wij hebben de verantwoordelijkheid om onze wereld goed over te laten aan onze kinderen, de verantwoordelijkheid voor onze veiligheid, onze economie, onze banen van de toekomst. Maar het wordt moeilijk om onze manier van leven te beschermen in een door China gedomineerde wereld.

Kortom: een Europees antwoord is nodig. Het publiek belang wordt op dit moment onvoldoende beschermd.

Er kan alleen een Europese oplossing komen. Havens concurreren met elkaar en op dit moment doen ze dat om Chinese investeringen in ruil voor het opgeven van controle in de eigen haven. Dat is niet in het publiek belang. Onze Eurocommissaris heeft al een aantal keren op dit onderwerp geantwoord dat de Europese Commissie vindt dat er voldoende instrumenten zijn om hiertegen in te gaan, maar ik ben het daar niet mee eens. Het BDI-mechanisme, de screening van buitenlandse investeringen, is zaak van de lidstaten, zij moeten dat zelf doen. Maar het grote probleem is dat de Europese havens met elkaar concurreren. Dat betekent dat als Nederland tegen de Rotterdamse haven op basis van dit mechanisme zou zeggen: “Wij staan Chinese investeringen niet meer toe”, dan gaan die Chinese investeringen naar andere landen toe, naar Antwerpen, naar Hamburg, als die lidstaten niet dezelfde afspraken nakomen. Daar zit dus het probleem. Er moeten Europese afspraken komen.

We hebben een Europese havenstrategie nodig die die buitenlandse invloed vermindert en tegelijkertijd ook de concurrentiepositie van die havens versterkt. Zeker als wij kritisch zijn over buitenlandse investeringen, moeten we er natuurlijk voor zorgen dat de broodnodige investeringen voor onze havens er wel zijn. Publiek en privaat. Wij hebben die investeringen ook nodig om ervoor te zorgen dat de havens hun plek in de energietransitie kunnen innemen, want daar hebben zij natuurlijk heel veel potentie en heel veel kansen als energiehubs, voor energiedragers, voor energieopwekking, voor de invoer van kritieke grondstoffen, voor CO₂-afvang en -opslag, voor onderhoudsstations, voor offshore-energiefaciliteiten, als knooppunten in vervoersystemen die de energietransitie ondersteunen. Kortom: heel veel kansen. Een Europese havenstrategie is hard nodig.

Ik wil de collega’s bedanken voor de goede samenwerking. Morgen is er voor dit verslag een grote meerderheid en het signaal van dit Europees Parlement is dan ook glashelder: “Europese Commissie, pak de controle terug in onze Europese havens. Bescherm het publiek belang en kom met een Europese havenstrategie.”

Catch-the-eye-procedure

  Seán Kelly (PPE). – Mr President, firstly, thanks to my colleague Tom for doing great work in this area. Ports are absolutely vital for our economy, in terms of trade but, as he pointed out, especially for a decarbonised economy where we’re going to have a huge amount of offshore wind, and we need to develop our ports. But he is absolutely right: we need to ensure that we control and own our ports, and this is not the case in many places at the moment. That’s certainly something that has to be tackled and done, as he said, collectively in Europe, rather than individual ports trying to deal with it.

I’m not aware of any ownership of ports in Ireland, but ports like Foynes, Bantry, Cork, Waterford, Rosslare have huge potential to both help the local communities, but especially to ensure that we can avail of the massive wind potential both in the Celtic Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean. So developing the infrastructure ports has to happen as quickly as possible.

(End of catch-the-eye-procedure)

  Adina-Ioana Vălean, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable Members, the Commission would like first to thank Parliament, and in particular the rapporteur, Mr Berendsen, for this important report.

We fully share the view that we need to support and improve the competitiveness, resilience and twin green and digital transition of EU ports and of the whole EU transport sector. This will allow the sector to grow in a way that is sustainable, both in social and environmental terms.

We highlighted from the very beginning of this mandate, these priorities, in our strategy for smart and sustainable mobility, in which we lay the ground for the future strategic development of the entire transport system, including the ports. The strategy confirms that ports, as transport and logistic hubs, are key for our internal and international connectivity, for military purposes, for our economy, for reducing the CO2 emissions and pollution from transport.

In line with the requirements in the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation, ports will provide clean fuels and electricity to ships. They will also contribute to the energy transition by becoming sustainable energy hubs – for example for offshore wind, for the production and import of hydrogen, for carbon capture and storage. This is why, at the request of the European Parliament, the Commission launched a pilot project – the Port Electricity Commercial Model – to be finalised in the first half of this year. The project has already identified several clean energy business models that reduce emissions from port operations, including onshore power supply. These models, which could be replicated across the EU, are primarily reliant on increased electrification.

The European economy benefits from the international trade and foreign investments that ports attract, and which help create jobs and growth. European companies are, for example, among the world leaders in maritime transport and logistics. However, we need to ensure that investments from third countries do not lead to strategic dependencies and do not pose risks to European security and public order.

The existing Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation already equips EU with a framework and common criteria to identify and assess risks linked to the foreign acquisition or control of strategic assets, including in transport, energy and communication infrastructures.

Looking back on the last three years of implementation of FDI screening, the Commission was notified of more than 1 200 such cases by Member State authorities, with some also concerning transactions linked to critical infrastructure. At the same time, it is concerning that not all Member States have a national mechanism in place.

Building on these experiences, the Commission will propose a revision of the FDI Screening Regulation. We look forward to work with the legislators to ensure that the EU rules for FDI screening remain fit for purpose and allow for a better and more consistent identification and mitigation of risks to security or public order for certain foreign investments.

The Economic Security Strategy also reiterates the Commission’s call to all Member States which have not yet implemented national FDI screening mechanisms, to do so without further delay. The main objective of the revision will be to ensure that all Member States screen foreign acquisition of EU companies active in sensitive sectors, and improve the functioning of the current screening mechanism between Member States and the Commission.

The revision of the Ten-T Regulation, agreed by the co-legislators in December last year, gives increased importance to maritime transport and ports by creating a European maritime space, the maritime dimension of the Ten-T. Ports’ more prominent role in the energy transition is also reflected in the addition of a number of ports to the Ten-T network.

However, let us also acknowledge that attaining our ambitious objectives of the 24 ports will require significant investment in the coming years. The revision also includes a provision on the control of foreign investment in transport infrastructure, and notably on the construction of transport infrastructure by third country companies.

The political agreement requires Member States to make all possible efforts to ensure that Ten-T infrastructure is protected against those threats. They must assess the potential risks arising from third-country participation or contributions to a project of common interest, and take appropriate countermeasures. Their assessment should in particular focus on the supply for the building, operation and maintenance of infrastructure, as well as access to sensitive information, including personal data.

Assessments must also address third-country capabilities to control such information in conjunction with the building, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure.

Together with other instruments, the examples that I have mentioned today show how we have taken action to strengthen the control of foreign influence on the European economy, including imports, and to bolster our resilience.

The Commission has recognised the need to ensure the resilience of ports to the threat posed also by organised crime and drug trafficking, through October’s EU roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime within the EU Port Alliance. The priorities of the roadmap include closer cooperation between customs authorities, law enforcement, public and private actors in ports, which will increase the resilience of ports against criminal infiltration.

I am pleased to announce that a launch event of the public-private partnership with ports will be held on the 24 January in Antwerp. This will be the occasion to kick off the work of this important initiative, with the aim of building a level playing field against criminal infiltration in ports.

The Commission remains open to considering options for further action if they are balanced, respect international obligations and agreements and can bring clear added value to our existing strategies and tools. However, any such initiatives would be for the next Commission to decide and would require thorough preparation, including stakeholder consultation and possible impact assessment.

  President. – The debate is closed. The vote will take place tomorrow.

Written statements (Rule 171)

  Marian-Jean Marinescu (PPE), în scris. – Pentru a atrage atenția asupra importanței transportului maritim și în special a infrastructurii portuare, Parlamentul European a inițiat și a adoptat cu o majoritate covârșitoare, raportul privind construirea unei strategii portuare europene cuprinzătoare.

Inițiativa pentru acest raport aparține grupului PPE din PE, care a sesizat pericolul pe care îl reprezintă investițiile statelor terțe, în special cele ale Chinei, în infrastructura portuară europeană.

Am convingerea că pentru a securiza independența strategică a UE este necesar să limităm influența pe care statele din afara UE, și în special China, o pot exercita prin controlul porturilor europene. Menținerea porturilor UE în controlul UE nu se poate face punctual sau disparat. Comisia Europeană trebuie să vină urgent cu o Strategie portuară europeană, care să limiteze influența și controlul operațional al actorilor non-UE în porturile europene.

Ca să dau doar un exemplu, războiul Rusiei în Ucraina ne-a demonstrat, dacă mai era nevoie, cât de importante sunt porturile europene pentru asigurarea siguranței alimentare mondiale.

Înainte de a stabilii direcțiile strategice de acțiune, trebuie să cunoaștem realitatea de la care pornim. Iar în acest sens, Parlamentul solicită Comisiei să realizeze o evaluare a riscurilor generate de implicarea Chinei în infrastructura maritimă a UE.