Develop short sea shipping!
Although the free movement of goods is a basic freedom enshrined in European law, it has still not become established for the shipping industry. To fully exploit the potential of short sea shipping, it must be treated differently than intercontinental shipping. Short-sea operations should receive the same treatment as road haulage and rail transport, both with respect to customs formalities and to environmental standards.
Read moreAdministrative simplification in a unified market
The ‘Blue Belt’ project should provide an answer to this heavy customs procedures for short sea shipping. This means that if a ship does not leave the territorial waters, is no longer subject to the import and exportsystem of the EU. Intra-European maritime cargo reserves thus its status of ‘community goods’ enabling border checks to be phased out.
Maritime Single Window for the standardization of information flows
Also the better management and the standardization of information flows can simplify administrative burdens for maritime transport. Cargo is in fact often controlled by various government agencies which results in the same information being gathered several times by the different government agencies. A Maritime Single Window, would simplify the information flow, allowing to send the necessary information electronically only once and spreading the same among the various competent authorities.