European ports: Facilitators or impediments of global supply chains?

The need to increase the administrative and financial autonomy of ports, coupled with the desire to avoid the perpetuation of anticompetitive behaviors, have encouraged the EC, for a third time, and after two unsuccessful earlier attempts during the past 15 years, to pursue a unified policy design, in an attempt to achieve that level playing field which would hopefully contribute to the improvement of port services, both in terms of quality and efficiency. The new European port Regulation promotes an entrepreneurial port model characterized by managerial autonomy, liberalization and competition. In particular, the Regulation is strengthening the autonomy of port authorities to set their own charges, and it requires more financial transparency when ports receive public funding. The paper discusses some of the controversies arising from the new EC policy proposals, especially in the areas of liberalization of port services; pricing; competition; administrative simplification; financial and operational autonomy; and state aid provisions.We conclude that, although the new port Regulation is a good step forward, it has not gone far enough, particularly in terms of reforming the port labor market. Moreover, by trying to introduce compromises and conditions of considerable vagueness and ambiguity, as well as a flexible framework for the organization of port services, which should respect the diversity of European ports, the Regulation renders its policy proposals practically limited, thus allowing Member States the freedom to continue a number of restrictive business practices, largely uninhibited as before.