Transport and Communications Group

North  Sea Commission
Transport & Communications group
Annual report 2002-2003

Introduction
This report summarises the work of the NSC Transport & Communications group since the last NSC General Assembly in Norfolk, June 2002

The Transport & Communications group in brief
The main aim of the group is to work for safe, sustainable and efficient transport & communications and improved access to the information society.

Current key issues of the group: Sustainable transport, sea transport, influencing EU transport policies and Information and Communications technologies (ICT).

Leadership and administration
Chair: Councillor Jan Hallberg Västra Götaland region Sweden (appointed October 2000)

Co-ordinator: Jon Halvard Eide, Vest-Agder Norway (appointed October 2000)

Vice-Chair: Councillor Jim Wade, Northamptonshire (appointed in October 2002)

Chairman Jan Hallberg (right) and Co-ordinator Jon Halvard Eide (left)

Membership
The group has got about 30 registered members. In addition, a number of regions are on a correspondence list receiving information about the activities of the group.

Group meetings
The group has held three ordinary meetings since the last General Assembly:

• Heide, Schleswig-Holstein region, Germany, 31 October – 1 November 2002
• Northampton, Northamptonshire, England 23- 24 January 2003
• The Province of Groningen, Netherlands, 8 – 9 May 2003

In average about 15 persons – coming from 12 different regions in Scotland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway have attended the meetings.  

Co-operation with other NSC thematical groups
The group is currently co-operating with the Business Development group on ports & sea transport and ICT, and with the Environment group on sustainable transport, including shipping. It is foreseen that the Education & Research group could be involved in the ICT work.  

Other events organised by the group
Meeting on Ports and shipping issues in co-operation with NSC Business Development group, 12 – 14 March 2003

The Transport & Communications group and the Business Development group jointly organised a meeting on ports and shipping issues on the Coastliner “Hurtigruta” between Bergen and Trondheim in Norway. The purpose of the meeting was to

• To get a better understanding of the significance (challenges and opportunities, requirements) of ports and sea transport for business development, particularly in rural areas, and/or shipping as a business in it-self.

• Identify and develop ideas for joint projects/ventures within sea transport.

• Discuss and prepare the joint seminar on ICT and broadband technology, scheduled for the autumn of 2003.  
  

The meeting showed that there exists a potential for co-operation between the two groups on ports and shipping issues, and it was identified a number of possible co-operation areas in this field, including:  

• Exchange of information and experience
• Mapping of existing projects on ports and sea transport
• Joint studies
• Joint meetings, seminar, and conferences
• Networking – facilitating contact between stakeholders
• Joint projects The meeting decided to consider the establishment of a “Ports & Shipping Partnership".   
  

Such a partnership would bring together, and facilitate contact, between all relevant stakeholders such as: port managers, terminal operators, shipping agents and lines, manufacturers of goods and regional authorities. As a first step in building up a Partnership, the groups will try to convene a meeting/seminar between representatives of the Short Sea Shipping Promotion Centres (SSSPC) that exist in most NSC countries and regional/small ports.  

Current issues & priorities of the group

Influencing EU transport policies

The work in this field can be grouped into the following main categories:

• Monitoring key policy processes and papers
  

This is mainly done through the study of policy papers, reports and recommendations from the EU Commission DG on Transport & Energy, decisions of the Transport Council, the European Parliament and the Committee of Regions

• Developing channels to relevant EU institutions  
  

The group has decided to explore and develop more direct channels towards the EU system.   I.e. DGTREN, the European Parliament (EP) and the Committee of Regions (COR). We have been identifying EP- and COR-representatives from North Sea countries/regions with a view of presenting NSC concerns & priorities for them.

• Following up on the December 2001 response to the EU White Paper on the Common Transport policy for 2010 – Time to decide. 
  
• Meetings with EU Commission  
  

On 10 –11 March, a member of the group met with representatives of the Commission DG’s for Transport & Energy and Environment together with the Transport Director of the CPMR. The following subjects were discussed:

• The TEN-T (TransEuropean Network) review (see below) The White Paper concept of Motorways of the Sea
• Concept for Interreg 3c project (see below), sustainable transport  
  

Co-operation with the CPMR

The group finds it natural and useful to also work through the CPMR on EU transport policy. This is because NSC shares many common concerns with the other CPMR regions, and because the CPMR Secretariat does effective lobbying towards the EU system.

Participation in CPMR Intercom group on transport  
The CPMR Intercom group on transport was set up in 2001 and is chaired by the region of Midi Pyrénées in France. The group normally meets 3 times a year, and the meetings are attended by representatives of the Atlantic Arc, Mediterranean, Baltic Sea and North Sea Commissions.

In this period, the Co-ordinator and members from Aberdeenshire Council have participated in three meetings of the Intercom group: In Ioannina, Greece on 19 September, in Toulouse, France, on 12 – 13 December 2002, and in San-Sebastian, Spain, on   31 March 2003.  

Main issues of the Intercom group:

CPMR proposal for the 2004 revision of the TransEuropean Network – TEN-T  
The NSC has been requested to present input to CPMR’s proposal for 2004 revision of the TEN-T. The CPMR proposal is expected to be finally adopted at the General Assembly in Saint Malot in September 2003.

In line with the NSC General Assembly resolution on the Transport White paper adopted in Norfolk last year, the Transport group has been advocating a polycentric corridor approach to the TEN-T revision. According to this approach, one should avoid further concentration of funding and business activities in the central ports, as this would only make the problems of congestion and poor accessibility for the peripheries worse. The answer is rather to identify a number of smaller hubs for sea/intermodal transport as this would reduce the congestion and improve the accessibility of remote regions. A polycentric corridor approach would also reduce the need to invest in expensive road- and rail infrastructure. The group feels that the TEN reliance on road and rail investments is unbalanced, and not consistent with the White Paper’s target of shifting traffic from roads to rail and sea.  

Development of an Interreg 3C concept on transport policy consultation on behalf of CPMR  
At the request of the CPMR, Aberdeenshire Council has been developing a concept for an Interreg 3C project among CPMR member commissions, based on a Scottish model for transport policy consultation. The aim of the project is to aid regional development through the creation of more effective transportation policies.  

This aim will be achieved through two principal means:

• The involvement of all relevant levels of communities, including the business community, in the development of European transport policy that takes greater account of the needs of the regions and that has environmental concerns as a core element: and  
  
• The dissemination of effective transport policy and good practice and the establishment of networking between transport interest in the regions of Europe.
  

It is the intention to submit an application in 2003 for an eighteen-month pilot project as a Network operation, involving between five and eight regions from different geographical commissions of the CPMR. The consultation methodology is assumed to be universally applicable across policy areas.

• NSC – CPMR co-operation on sustainable transport (see “Sustainable transport below)  
  

Other transport-related CPMR events:  

• The Co-ordinator drafted a speech that NSC President Bent Hansen delivered in a special session for transport at the CPMR General Assembly in Greece on 19 September  
  

The speech outlined the main points of the NSC White Paper response and highlighted the NSC best practice approach to sustainable transport. A concept for an Interreg 3C-project on transport policy consultations, developed by Aberdeenshire Council, was also mentioned in the speech.  

• A resolution based on the group’s response to the EU Transport White Paper – adopted by the NSC General Assembly in Norfolk last year – was also adopted by the CPMR General Assembly with only minor/insignificant amendments  
  

Sustainable transport  
On 18-19 April 2002, the NSC Environment and Transport group jointly organised a conference on Sustainable Transport in Aarhus, Denmark (cf. Annual report 2001-02). The conference addressed what politicians and planners can do to promote and deliver sustainable transport in the North Sea region by presenting and disseminating best practice examples.

Follow-up of the Aarhus conference
On 14 April the Chairs of the two involved NSC groups sent a letter to the Mayors, Chairmen and Presidents of all NSC regions. The letter is encouraging NSC regions to implement best practice examples in sustainable transport, and is asking for information on possible plans and actions to implement such examples. A list of all best practice examples from the Aarhus conference was attached to the letter. (See conference web site at: http://www.ntn.dk/Aarhus/papers.html  

• Invitation to sustainable transport project  
  

The letter is also inviting the regions to participate in a North Sea co-operation project on sustainable transport as an Interreg 3B bid. Since last year, the Environment and Transport groups have decided to revise the project by removing the element of “mobile education & awareness campaign”. This has been done to make the project less costly and probably easier to execute. The focus is now on the development and implementation of best practice examples.

The main elements of a sustainable transport project will be:

• Pilot projects to implement best practice examples from the “Aarhus catalogue”
• Recurring conferences of the Aarhus-type
• Development of best practice example tool kits
• Website development  
  

Västra Götaland region has agreed to co-ordinate all expressions of interest in the project (contact person: Per Hørberg, mail: per.horberg@vgregion.se). It is envisaged that an application could be submitted for the September 2003- or the March 2004 application deadline - depending on the response to the invitation.

NSC – CPMR co-operation on sustainable transport  
At the last two meetings of the CPMR Transport group, NSC representatives have been advocating the NSC best practice approach to sustainable transport – in line with the conference in Aarhus in April last year. We feel that our presentations have triggered a positive interest in sustainable transport among the other CPMR member commission and the Secretariat. As an expression of this, the Transport Director of the CPMR has requested the NSC to assist the CPMR in preparing/hosting a major CPMR-conference on sustainable transport in 2004. This as a part of CPMR’s efforts to strengthen its involvement in this field. The Transport group has responded positively to this request and we feel that it could be regarded as an appreciation of the NSC role and efforts in promoting sustainable transport. A major CPMR conference would obviously serve to lift the issue higher up on the European agenda. The issue will be discussed at the next meeting of the CPMR Intercom group on Transport.

 

Ports & shipping issues

• See also conclusions from a joint meeting on ports and shipping issues referred to above  
  
• Letter on maritime safety to all North Sea Governments
  

The break-up of the oil tanker Prestige outside north-western Spain last year shows that safety is a permanent challenge for all maritime regions, and that similar accidents could just as well have happened in the North Sea if nothing is done to improve the situation. As a reaction to the Prestige accident and as a follow-up of a CPMR declaration  on the subject, the group drafted a letter from the NSC President Bent Hansen to the relevant Ministries/Authorities in all North Sea countries on 21 February, in co-operation with the NSC Environment group. The letter is requesting the North Sea governments to provide information on the concrete measures being undertaken to improve Port State Controls in compliance with relevant EU directives and the CPMR declaration.

The primary objective of the letter is to promote and to attract more attention to the issue of maritime safety in the North Sea. By requesting information on the concrete measures, we are hopefully able to commit the Governments on this issue, and would have something to monitor future policies in this field against. As a side effect, the letter could hopefully also serve to profile the NSC as an organisation. A press release on the letter was issued in Denmark and it was the main news on the local radio one morning.

So far, the relevant authorities in the UK, Denmark, Germany and Norway have responded to the letter. All these countries are supporting the objective of improved maritime safety, and report that they have already met the 25 % target for Port State control inspections set by the EU. The UK and Denmark are also considering reducing the intervals between inspections of vessels of greater risk in compliance with EU directives and recommendations.

• Follow the work on sustainable shipping under the next North Sea Ministerial meeting in 2006  
  

In order to make the NSC involvement in shipping issues more coherent (i.e. between transport and environmental concerns), the group has decided to follow more closely the work being carried out on sustainable shipping under the next North Sea Ministerial meeting in 2006, and liase with the NSC representative in the relevant working group, Per Hørberg.

• Taking advantage of and disseminate material produced by relevant Interreg projects on sea transport issues  
  

“The Northern Maritime Corridor” is an Interreg 3B project stretching from Northern Norway and North West Russia to the Continent, connecting the coastal areas of North Sea and the Northern Periphery. 20 regions in eight countries (Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland, The Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Sweden and Norway) are partners to the project. The project has produced and will still be producing reports/studies on Short Sea Shipping, transport of Sea food and petroleum products, as well as on Maritime Safety. These reports are/will be available at the web site of the project at: http://www.northern.maritime.corridor.no/..

Information & Communication technologies (ICT)  
According the terms of reference, the group is committed to improve the access to and the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in society, with particular reference to public services, small/medium enterprises and isolated areas

 

At its meeting in Schleswig- Holstein in October last year, the group started to explore how the ICT-related provisions of the terms of reference could be made operational, and tried to delimit the scope of the work within this field. The group decided that:

• The approach in this field should be demand-oriented – based on the needs (i.e. for development of digital infrastructure and availability /knowledge of corresponding applications) of the regions and the business community, particularly in rural areas. This means that the focus should be on the application and effects of ICT, not on the technology it-self.  
  
• The group’s work on ICT should mainly be conducted within the framework of the co-operation with the NSC Business Development group (BDG).  
  

The issue of ICT was further dealt with at a joint meeting with the BDG on 13 March. The meeting found it useful to apply the following categories as an organising framework for the future work on ICT issues:

1) E-government

• Improving communication between public service and the public
• Increasing accessibility to ICT for the public and SME’s
• Improving public participation in decision making and spatial planning         
  

2) Regional innovation

• Use of ICT in tackling social and cultural barriers
• Setting up innovation networks in universities and schools
• Improving accessibility to knowledge and education  
  

3) Information society and mobility

• Innovative mobility management
• Impact of ICT on transport and mobility
• Organisation of electronic transport systems in improving mobility  
  

The above categories correspond with the main interests and priorities of the Interreg IIIB Secretariat within the field of ICT and spatial development, as presented on an Interreg IIIB seminar on this subject in Stavanger, 23 – 24 January 2003.  

ICT-seminar planned for September 2003  
The Business and Transport groups have decided to organise a joint seminar on ICT in Vlaanderen, Belgium, on 10 September 2003. The seminar intends to work out a good knowledge base and explore ideas for future Interreg projects within ICT.

The NSC Education and Research group will also be invited to the seminar. The NSC Executive Committee has granted DKr. 30.000 for the seminar.

 

Planned meetings and events

• Meeting of the CPMR Intercom Transport group, Aberdeenshire, 12 –13 June,  
  

First time this meeting is hosted in a NSC region.

• Seminar on ICT in Vlaanderen, Belgium, 10 September, in co-operation with the NSC Business Development group  
  
• Next group meeting: Vlaanderen, Belgium on 11 September. The meeting will be devoted to ports and shipping issues  
  

Kristiansand, 15 May 2003,  

Jon Halvard Eide  
Co-ordinator NSC Transport & Communications group