(2004/C 33 E/159)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1737/03

by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 May 2003)

Subject:   Maritime transport of agricultural products from Almeria

Shipping agents, agricultural exporters and the Almeria port authority (Spain) are conducting a short study into the cost of a project to link Almeria to the Dutch port of Rotterdam. This maritime link would enable farmers in Almeria to begin exporting fruit and vegetables in November.

The proposal is for a boat carrying 80 lorries to sail from Almeria each week from November to March. The produce would be distributed by road from the Dutch port within a 350-kilometre radius (northern France, Belgium and Germany).

Given that this is a ground-breaking proposal which would facilitate the export of Almerian agricultural products to the heart of Europe while reducing goods traffic on the roads of central Europe, will the Commission make a significant contribution to the project to establish this shipping route?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(2 July 2003)

The Commission has an established policy to promote Short Sea Shipping as a complement and alternative to road transport. Increased use of Short Sea Shipping does not only alleviate land bottlenecks and congestion on the road network, but can also help reach environmental and safety targets. Consequently, it can play a major role in achieving the policy targets indicated in the Commission White Paper on European Transport Policy for 2010 (1).

In this framework the Commission welcomes the willingness of agricultural exporters and importers and the port authority of Almeria to study the possibility of using Short Sea Shipping to replace the general trend of utilising road transport to export those products from Spain to Benelux, Germany and France.

The Commission will be very interested in learning the results of the feasibility study and the commercial viability of the planned service. In this context factors such as frequency, regularity, availability of return cargo and type of ship and cargo carried (accompanied or unaccompanied trailers, containers, swap bodies) will undoubtedly be carefully considered.

In this context the Commission would like to draw the attention to the new Marco Polo programme which is scheduled for adoption in July 2003, with a call for proposals to be launched as soon as possible after adoption. The Programme is concerned with the implementation international freight services shifting freight of all segments of the market from road to short sea shipping, rail or inland waterway. If adopted, the programme will run from 2003 to 2010, with annual calls for proposals. For further details the Commission would refer to the new Marco Polo web site and helpdesk (http://europa.eu.int/comm/ transport/marcopolo/indexen.htm and tren-marco-polo@cec.eu.int).

(1)  COM(2001) 370 final.