EU eyes port services
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• The European Commission wants to allow more than one operator to provide loading and other freight facilities at ports. In a directive the EC says hauliers who are capable of handling goods themselves should not suffer discrimination.
Brussels is also gunning for port authorities who provide direct services as well as regulating ports. The directive says member states should appoint "impartial judges" to decide which companies should be allowed to operate at a port.
If it is approved by EU ministers and the European Parliament, the directive is likely to require that all rules governing the right to provide port services must be "transparent, non-discriminatory, objective and proportional".
An EC spokesman says; "The Commission proposes that every prospective service provider, whether private or public, has a fair and equal chance to take part in the growth industry of pert services, and that fairness is, and is seen to be, exercised through clear rules and clear procedures."
The EC believes the number of port service providers should be limited only by space or capacity constraints.
Regarding cargo handling, the directive says that "as a general rule, at least two service providers for each category of cargo" should be allowed to operate at a port.