Position of the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) on the European Green Deal
On 11 December 2019, Commission President von der Leyen presented her Green Deal for Europe. EFIP welcomed the Green Deal’s aim and proposals as they are essential to achieve of a carbon-neutral Europe. However, the priorities laid out in the Green Deal will prove insufficient on their own. In order to reach the goal of climate-neutrality detailed questions will need to be addressed in the coming years. This is why, as Enablers of Green Logistics, inland ports have adopted a series of recommendations regarding the European Green Deal. These can be found in EFIP’s Position Paper, which comes to the following conclusions:
A modal shift of transport away from polluting modes is key to the decarbonisation of Europe. Inland waterway transport and rail should be promoted to achieve this and a true Single European Multimodal Area should be created.
A successor programme to NAIADES II is needed to support the inland waterway sector.
As Inland ports exist at the intersections of rail and IWT, the importance of rail connections for inland ports should be recognised.
European inland ports believe that a European approach to adaptation to climate change is necessary to ensure that inland waterway transport will continue to be possible across Europe.
The completion of the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T) is of paramount importance for progress in European transport.
Decarbonisation of the various transport modes is central for the achievement of the Green Deal objectives. This requires a clear and long-term strategy for sustainable and smart mobility that lays out a technology-neutral roadmap that the entire logistics sector can follow.
The review of the Energy Taxation Directive should support the uptake of all sustainable clean fuels and energies by introducing a long-term tax exemption for those fuels.
As achieving the modal shift and greening inland waterway transport will entail a fundamental change in port and waterway operations, appropriate investments will be needed.
EFIP President Friedrich Lehr said: “The European Green Deal gives inland ports, and European logistics on the whole, a clear direction for the decarbonisation of European transport. European support for multimodal transport, new technologies and innovative city logistics will put inland ports on the right course to meet the goals for 2030 and 2050. This position paper constitutes our first concrete and detailed contributions to achieve the European objectives and the basis for the cooperation between inland ports and the EU.”
