Against a backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions, increasing cross-border crime, cyber and hybrid threats, potential attacks on subsea telecommunications and power cable infrastructure, climate impacts and growing pressure on global supply chains, ports and maritime industries are increasingly exposed. At the same time, they are expected to deliver on decarbonisation, energy security, digitalisation and military mobility.
Renew Europe therefore welcomes the forthcoming EU Ports Strategy and EU Maritime Industrial Strategy and stresses that these complementary strategies must be mutually reinforcing in keeping with the recommendations of the Competitiveness Compass and the Draghi report, by prioritising simplification, effective implementation and enforcement of the existing regulatory framework. Together, they should provide a coherent, forward-looking framework that strengthens competitiveness and resilience while preserving market openness, sustainability, and a level playing field, in line with the Clean Industrial Deal, the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, and Europe’s security priorities.