ECASBA JOINS NEW EUROPEAN MARITIME SECTOR ALLIANCE

FONASBA’s European Committee, ECASBA, has joined the newly established “I AM Logistics and Connectivity for Growth Alliance”. This new body emerged from an initiative by FEPORT, the European Federation of Private Port Operators, to bring together an extended coalition of mainly European maritime industry organisations, representing a wide spectrum of sector and disciplines, with the aim, as the attached press release states, of boosting and enhancing European multimodal and logistic connectivity through direct engagement with EU decision makers and agencies. The size of the alliance, comprising twenty of the largest maritime organisations (the names of the founders can be found in the press release – see below), should ensure that it gets its voice heard at the highest levels. That size will also mean that some policy actions will not be supported by all of the members and so there will be the opportunity for associations to opt out of a particular issue.

The alliance was officially launched at the second of FEPORT’s Annual Stakeholder Conferences which took place in Brussels on 6th December and ECASBA was present. A plenary meeting of the alliance members is scheduled for spring 2017, at which time the priorities for the initial series of actions will be determined. It is however anticipated that the Combined Transport Directive (92/106/EEC of 7 December 1992 on the establishment of common rules for certain types of combined transport of goods between Member States) and the Mid-Term Evaluation of the Connecting Europe Facility will be two topics under discussion.

ECASBA will actively participate in the work of the alliance.

A copy of the launch press release can be found here