European Issues
Many of the issues that confront UK ports are raised, debated and promulgated in Europe via the European Commission. Despite the fact that we are an island nation, UK ports compete with Continental ports for certain types of traffic for example deep-sea containers.
While UK ports receive virtually no financial assistance from the public purse, the same cannot be said of many continental ports. One of the major areas of concern for UKMPG members is the lack of a 'level playing field' between UK and Continental ports. We favour competition, provided it is on fair terms, but there is concern that the present regime allows Continental ports to compete for business in an unfair way. We therefore welcome the European Commission's Communication on Ports Policy, published in October 2007, which confirms that competition among ports needs to be on a fair basis. The Commission has undertaken to produce guidance on the application of EU state-aid rules to ports by the end of 2008. UKMPG will be closely monitoring the development and progress of these guidelines.
