Ports: tools and stakes for the sovereignty of the European Union?
With the Covid crisis, Europe became aware of the fragility of the many supply chains which contribute to its integration in international industrial and commercial trade. The recent calling into question of the geopolitical equilibria of the past few decades transformed this awareness into a real challenge for the independence and the economic autonomy of the continent, and more particularly of the European Union.
In this context, ports play a particular role. They are at the heart of the industrial, energy and commercial system of the European economies, and also the site of many of the challenges of the ecological transition.
A “comprehensive European port strategy” requested by the European Parliament
The activities of ports, units of infrastructure and services intended firstly to handle the transport of merchandise and people, are directly exposed to the European rules regarding competition. Can ports be tools and actors in a collective strategy of reinforcement of the sovereignty of the European Union, beyond the commercial and territorial competition which opposes them? How can domestic policies and the various modes of management of the large seaports be coordinated within a comprehensive European strategy?
Several months before the European elections of 2024, a parliamentary own-initiative report was adopted by the European Parliament. The report, presented by the Dutch Euro MP Tom Berendsen (PPE, reelected in 2024), concludes with a resolution which requests that the European Commission prepare a “comprehensive European port strategy,” underscoring four issues – foreign influences, security, the energy transition, and the competitiveness of EU ports and companies. The resolution “requests the organizing of a European port summit to more deeply examine these issues and to study the possibilities for reinforcing cooperation between European ports for this purpose [and invites] the Commission to present an exhaustive port strategy before the end of 2024 which addresses the abovementioned points.”
The Commission took note of this request and it was included in the engagement letter of the new European commissioner in charge of transport, the Greek Apostolos Tzitzikóstas, who must present a comprehensive European port strategy before the end of 2025 (see the TDIE watch note on the engagement letter – in French).
Seaports in Europe: diversity, competition and cooperation
What are the fundamentals of the port policies of the States covered by the OPSTE experts? Can we identify some guiding principles, and identify points of convergence and divergence?
To contribute to shedding light on these issues, and while awaiting the presentation of the Commission’s draft, the OPSTE offers you an overview of the European port policies of ten countries: Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and also Switzerland, a country landlocked in the European Union which has developed a strategy and diplomacy intended to ensure its access to the sea and to ports. The preparation of this bulletin, which took place by videoconference in April 2025, provided an opportunity to welcome two guest specialists for port issues, Thierry Vaneslander for Belgium, and Larissa von der Lugt for the Netherlands.
To download the bulletin in english.
To download the bulletin in french.
Bulletin #13: the next bulletin will cover the transport, mobility and logistics policies defined and implemented by local authorities within the framework of the work carried out by TDIE for the upcoming municipal and intermunicipal elections.