Navigation of Barcelona.
The European single market's competitiveness within the global
economy's framework requires, as a necessary condition, an efficient
transport system regarding the economic, social and environmental
costs. In this regard, prioritising the Mediterranean Corridor is the
paradigmatic example of a long-term strategy implemented by the
European Commission through its Trans-European Transport Network
proposal.
A strategy that, in the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, we share and
support, since it strengthens our commitment to foster business
competitiveness, which is the key factor in economic and social
development, here and everywhere. However, it needs to be stressed
that this is not simply to improve logistics, but it represents a firm
and decided determination to benefit the productive economy. Because
our main competitive advantage is our business network's productive
will, based on a great industrial and export tradition.
In fact, prioritising the Mediterranean Corridor relates to the shared
objective to place Mediterranean ports as the main European entry and
exit gateways for trade fluxes with the Far East, as well as to foster
logistics within the Euro-Mediterranean area. It must be taken into
account that Mediterranean ports, with Barcelona's at the fore front,
offer a great connection potential to attract trade traffic between
Asia and Europe, which currently mainly use Northern European ports
(up to 75%).
Consequently, the increase of Asian traffic attraction by Southern
European ports might represent an important contribution to the global
efficiency of the goods transport system, as the European Union seeks
to achieve according to the White Paper on Transport, published this
year. There, it is affirmed that Mediterranean ports offer a shorter
journey time and that their use might be cheaper than Northern
European routes. Roughly, it might represent saving between 15% and
20% of travel time, since three to four navigation days are being cut
off. Since navigation distances are being reduced, and the modal
distribution of land stages is optimised, fuel consumption, energy
dependence and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.
Therefore, we reach the conclusion that improving land links between
southern and northern Europe is one of the main challenges to improve
the European economy's competitiveness. And, considering
socio-economic profitability criteria, in our home, the main priority
among such unsettled links is the Mediterranean Railway Corridor. The
Corridor Europe needs.
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