Events & activities
EFIP events
7 October 2010
General Assembly EFIP, Ghent (Belgium)
6-8 October 2010
EFIP Inland Port Regatta, Belgium
EFIP places to be
5-6 October 2010
Marco Polo Conference, Vienna
9 November 2010
ESPO Award 2010, Brussels
16-17 November 2010
Conference on Urban Freight, Belgien Presidency of the Union, Brussels
24-25 November 2010
5th European Conference and Exhibition on Inland Terminals, Marseille (France)
http://www.inlandterminals.com
30 November 2010
Clecat Conference
30 November 2010 - 1 December 2010
Barg 2 Business Conference, Brussels
Past events
EFIP’s President Willy Robijns presented good environmental port practices at the Danube Summit in Linz
From 31 May till 2 June the 5th Danube Summit took place in Linz (Austria). EFIP was participating in the exhibition. In addition EFIP’s President Willy Robijns gave a presentation on good environmental practices in European inland Ports during the roundtable discussion on “inland navigation development and environmental protection- trade off or win-win”.
Willy Robijns gave eight examples of good green practices in inland ports. To start with he showed how some inland ports, as for instance Lille, are starting to measure their environmental and carbon footprint. Moreover the Federation as such is actively participating in the debate on the internalisation of external costs. Thirdly EFIP’s President gave the example of the “Ecocomparateur” of the ports of Paris, an instrument that can be consulted on the website of the Parisian port which makes it possible to make compare 100% road transport and combined transport in terms of environmental costs, time of transport and costs for the company. Robijns continued with explaining how different inland ports (Paris,Llille, Lliège, London,…) have developed expertise in transporting urban waste by water. Other examples given were the shore side electricity project “Walstroom” from the Dutch Federation of Inland Ports and the plan of Rotterdam to reduce port fees for cleaner barges as from 2011. Furthermore EFIP was explaining that inland ports are more and more including green conditions in the concessions. A final example showed related to the energy efficiency of port buildings. The port of Ghent had just received one of the European Green Building Awards for the port building that they are using since 2005.
In his concluding remarks, Willy Robijns was emphasizing that to start with inland ports are contributing to sustainable transport since they are functioning as the access gate to environmental transport modes (inland waterway transport, rail and maritime transport). Inland ports are however not resting on their laurels and are investing a lot in greener solutions.
EFIP participates in ESPO 2010 Conference
The 7th edition of the ESPO Conference was held in Helsinki from 26 to 28 May. More than 200 delegates participated in active discussions on the societal integration of ports and the role of port employment and labour. “This year we focus on the human factor”, said ESPO Chairman Victor Schoenmakers, “We tend to forget sometimes that ports are essentially about connecting people and not just about ships and cranes. By putting citizens and employees in the footlight we want to redress this picture.”
The conference opened with a keynote speech by Alexander Stubb, the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a video message from Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament.
At the Conference ESPO presented its new Code of Practice on Societal Integration that resulted from the project ‘People around Ports’. “With this Code of Practice we want to raise awareness among our members that they need to invest in their public image, take an interest in employment and education and make people living around port areas their ambassadors”, said ESPO Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven, “We hope that this Code will have the same pioneering role as our Code of Environmental Practice had fifteen years ago.” The Code of Practice complements the ESPO Award on Societal Integration of Ports which entered in its second edition this year.
EFIP was mainly present in one of the parallel workshops dealing with the subject “The Port, we live in”. EFIP’s director, Isabelle Ryckbost chaired this session. The Ports of Paris, Seville and London were represented in the panel. Mr Pawel Stelmaszczyk, Head of the logistics Unit in the European Commission gave the introductory speech.
On the second day of the Conference a session was held on port labour and port-related employment, being key factors to port competitiveness and reform. For this purpose ESPO commissioned from the Institute of Transport and Maritime Management Antwerp (ITMMA) a report on dock labour and port-related employment in the European port system. The report is unique in its kind by providing a framework which relates performance of port labour systems to market requirements. It also illustrates the diversity of the port labour systems in Europe and their relation to legal and policy conditions. The report finally highlights some general trends such as a move towards open and autonomous pool systems, a push from the employers side towards continuous working and the establishment of a more permanent workforce.
The conference closes with a political debate on the financing of future European transport infrastructure needs and a keynote address from Henrik Hololei, Head of Cabinet to Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas.
EFIP participates in international workshop on the river Elbe in Decin
“Allow more shipping on the River Elbe”. Inspired by this message the students of the school of Pirna in Germany and Děčín in the Czech Republic decorated ten ships that they handed over to political and economic decision makers at an international workshop that was organised for the eighth time by the Saxon Port- and Transport Association together with the Czech Consulate General in Dresden and the Chamber of Commerce Elbe/Oder in the light of the European week.
The theme of this year’s workshop, being held on 4 May in the beautiful Schloss of Decin, was the review of the European TEN-T policy. The participants in the workshop stressed the importance of giving more possibilities to inland waterway transport and highlighted that to optimalise the freight transport between the seaports and the Elbe-Euroregion in a sustainable and economic way, the development of efficient railways needs to be completed by an Elbe-river that is navigable the whole year round.
EFIP participated in the meeting. Isabelle Ryckbost pointed out that improving the navigability of the river Elbe fitted into the rationale of the TEN-T review. As a matter of fact one of the aims of the TEN-T review is to take into account the new EU territory and to better link East and West. By upgrading the Elbe, one would also improve the inland waterways link between the European capitals Berlin and Prague. At the same time, even if the Elbe itself is not part of the TEN-T priority project n°22, it is very much linked to it and could enrich this rail project by linking rail with water. In such way it would enhance the comodal character of this rail priority project and decongest the Děčín Valley. Picture: f.l.t.r.: Captain Detlev Bütow (Vice President Bundesverbandes öffntlichter Binnenhäfen), Isabelle Ryckbost (Director EFIP), Ing. Jiří Aster (Port of Děčín) and Dr. Bernd Rohde (Ministerialdirigent Saxon State Ministry for Economy, Labour and transport).
25-27 March 2010: Executive Committee EFIP, Sevilla
From 25 to 27 March the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) and its members were coming together in Sevilla to hold their Executive Committee meeting.
At the Executive Committee meeting, the EFIP members were welcoming again the Dutch Association of Inland Ports (Nederlandse Vereniging Binnenhavens) who decided to join EFIP again after a suspension of their membership during the last two years.
Mr Bert Luijendijk, Vice President of NVB said: ”We see the increasing importance of inland ports in our country. The same is happening in the whole of Europe. So it is important that the Dutch inland ports are present in Brussels through their membership of EFIP.”
“I am very happy to count the Dutch Association of Inland Ports among our members. The Dutch have a long standing tradition in inland waterway transport and can therefore play an important pioneer role when it comes to developing new solutions. This was proved already today, when our Dutch member was informing EFIP about their initiative regarding a unique system for shore power supply in inland ports”, added EFIP’s Director Isabelle Ryckbost.
EFIP’s Executive Committee further decided to create an observer members status for inland ports from outside Europe willing to be involved in EFIP’s activities. The National River Port Management Company, Egypt’s leading operator of river ports will become the first observer member of EFIP.
Mr Michael Power, CEO NRPMC said: “NRPMC is a start up operation to rejuvenate inland water transportation along the river Nile in Egypt, and managing our business to the best international standards is a core principal to us. Being associated with EFIP is a major step forward for us in achieving these goals, which coincidentally are also entirely consistent with the objectives of a joint action between Egypt and the EU to improve inland waterway transportation in Egypt under the European neighbbourhood partnership.”
“It is important that inland ports are looking beyond Europe’s borders. Exchanging experiences and knowhow with emerging inland ports along the Nile seems in that respect very interesting for both EFIP’s members and our new observer member”, said EFIP’s President Willy Robijns.
EFIP also launched its new website: www.inlandports.eu. Apart from a complete restyling, the new website now also includes space for its members to present their port and activities and to report on projects or recent developments.
Moreover EFIP held in Sevilla a discussion on the different methods of calculating the carbon footprint and the external costs of transport with representatives of the European Commission’s DG move and its European Research Centre.
And of course the EFIP delegation visited the Port of Sevilla and the recently opened lock with Mr Fausto Arroyo, Director of the Port.
“Being members for many years we welcome EFIP to Sevilla at a very special occasion. In 2010 the improvement of the navigation access to Sevilla port and the new lock will allow innovative solutions to the logistic market in South Spain”, according to Mr Fausto Arroyo about EFIP’s visit to Sevilla.
24-25 February 2010: Greenport Conference, Stockholm
On 24-25 February 2010, the 5th International Ports and the Environment Conference and exhibition GreenPort 2010 took place in Stockholm in association with EcoPorts and ESPO.
Delegates gathered in Stockholm to discuss key port environmental issues such as: Climate Change, Port Authorities' green initiatives, Biodiversity and Natura 2000, the Port-City Relationship, Port Technology and Renewable Energy.
EFIP and its members participated actively in the conference, in particular in the session dedicated to the subject”inland ports, a sustainable solution for seaports”. During this session, chaired by EFIP’s Director, Isabelle Ryckbost three panelist zoomed in to the cooperation inland ports seaports from a different angle: Mr Daan Schalck, CEO of the Port of Ghent presented Ghent’s strategy to develop Ghent as a decongestion hub for the main seaports. Gabriele Negrini, representing the ¨Province of Mantova and DarioAggio, President of the company fluviomar explained how the Lombardy region was using and developing its potential in inland waterway transport and how the region had developed a whole strategy involving the cooperation with the Sea ports around the Adriatic Sea. Mr Ehrhardt, Managing director of the Port of Magdeburg finally gave somebest practices in the cooperation inland ports seaports.
http://www.green-port.net/gp-content/welcome-to-greenport/ecoports-2009.html
EFIP seminar on the transport of waste by water: EFIP shows EP best practices of inland ports on transport of urban waste
On 2 December 2009, the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) organised a lunch meeting in the European Parliament on the transport of waste by water and the important role of inland ports in offering sustainable solutions for urban freight. At the meeting, that was hosted and chaired by Belgian MEP Saïd El Khadraoui, representatives of the French ports of Lille and Paris and of the Belgian port of Liège presented their best practices regarding the transport of waste by water. EFIP’s president Willy Robijns gave a presentation of the “Waste ship” project, a project aiming at shifting waste streams from road to inland waterways. All speakers emphasised the need for space along the water, political will and a mental shift.
Over recent years different inland ports have built up experience in finding sustainable solutions for the collection of waste and the transport of waste from the collection point to the waste recovery plants. Even if successful, these environmentally-friendly methods of waste removal can become under threat because of budgetary restraints. A price signal could help authorities and waste treatment companies in choosing sustainable solutions for the transport of waste. The aim of the lunch meeting was to put these best practices in the spotlight and see what more can be done at EU level to support these projects and to encourage other towns to follow this example. The meeting was well attended and allowed for an interesting discussion among MEPS and the other political staff of the European Parliament, CE and national representatives, and the stakeholder organisations.
Mantova, 15-17 October 2009: 15th Anniversary marks a new start for EFIP
From 15 till 17 October the members of EFIP are gathering in Mantova to join EFIP’s General Assembly meeting.
Created in 1994, EFIP, the European Federation representing nearly 200 inland ports in 18 countries from the European Union, Moldova, Switzerland and Ukraine, is celebrating its 15th Anniversary.
This 15th Anniversary means a new start for EFIP. In spring EFIP decided to set up a joined office with the European Sea ports Organisation. At the same time, EFIP’s secretariat was completely renewed.
At the General Assembly meeting in Mantova, EFIP’s new Director gave a first overview of achievements and presented her working programme for the next year to the EFIP members.
“I believe we can conclude that EFIP is fully operational again. During the General Assembly meeting, Isabelle Ryckbost presented a working programme that reflects very well the priorities of the inland ports at the moment. The new director attaches a lot of importance to linking the ports themselves to the institutions and increase the visibility of the inland ports. We can only welcome that” stated EFIP’s President Willy Robijns.
Furthermore a discussion was held on the internalisation of external costs of transport. Isabelle Ryckbost summarizes the position of EFIP as follows “EFIP wants to participate actively in this debate. We see in a step by step approach the best way to unlock this difficult dossier. We should start with some externalities and work on the basis of pilot projects. The internalisation should only relate to transport and aims above all at making the different transport modes more comparable”.
Furthermore, the General Assembly welcomed the Port of Ghent (Belgium) as a new EFIP member.
For The CEO of the port of Ghent, Daan Schalck, it is very natural to join EFIP:”The upcoming Seine-Nord project, offers plenty of opportunities for the port of Ghent. Being an intermodal nodal point, Ghent has very good hinterland links via IWT, rail, pipelines en the road. With 20 million throughput by IWT, Ghent is in fact an important inland port. Moreover promoting sustainable transport is one of Ghent’s main goals. A reason more to join EFIP.”
Finally the EFIP members agreed to nominate a third Vice President, who will represent the Eastern and Central European countries. Ms Carmen Costache, President of the Romanian Inland Ports, was elected for this function.
By welcoming the European inland ports, Mantova proves to attach a lot of importance to networking. Province of Mantova’s Vice-president Claudio Camocardi confirms: “Mantova has proven to be able to work in network at several levels, not only within EFIP, but also at national level. Mantova promoted together with other local organisations a "coordination agreement of the northern Italy waterway system", that held its first formal assembly in parallel with this General Assembly of EFIP. Even if inland waterway transport is not constantly present on the national political agenda, a bottom -up approach and network of port authorities and regional agencies is boosting.
The first result was the successful submission of a project under the TEN-T call for proposals, so that EU funds will contribute to the infrastructural development of the IWW.”
On Friday afternoon, EFIP members visited Mantova’s port area by boat.
We have discovered a port that is developing itself into an eco-compatible trimodal logistic pole, able to boast competitiveness and ensure environmental sustainability. The port of Mantova serves and lies on the one hand beside the Chemical pole area, an economically strategic area implying however a great effort for environmental prevention and recovery from historical pollution. On the other hand Mantova’s port area lies beside the Natural Park of the Mincio River with the protected area Vallazze, so important for its naturalistic biodiversity and beauty. It is a challenge for Mantova to develop a sustainable but competitive port and it seems that Mantova will be able to meet this challenge and become a real Eco-port”, stated EFIP’s President after the visit.
The port visit was combined with a short conference where representatives of the European Parliament and the European Commission inform EFIP and its members about current developments in EU transport policy of interest to inland ports. Belgian liberal MEP Dirk Sterckx spoke about the activities of the new Parliament and the cooperation between sea ports and inland ports in the framework of the “maritime space without frontiers” concept. His intervention was followed by an update on the implementation of the TEN-T priority projects and a preview of the Danube Strategy by Cesare Bernabei, Policy Coordinator for inland waterway transport projects in the European Commission and right hand of European Coordinator, Karla Peijs. Finally, Roberto Ferravante, DG Transport, Deputy Head of Unit, of the DG TREN Unit dealing with logistics, co-modality, inland waterways and motorways of the sea & Marco Polo gave an outline of the latest developments in the field of logistics.
Paolo Costa, former President of the Transport Committee of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Port of Venice, was the central guest of the dinner on 16 October. On 17 October a visit to the Port of Venice will conclude this two day meeting.
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