EU

The European Parliament wants less non-European control over critical infrastructures in European ports, according to a parliamentary initiative. Parliament’s views are included in an own-initiative report on a European port strategy. The report is aimed at the Commission, which has the right to propose new laws. According to Bergur Løkke Rasmussen, who negotiated the report for the Renew group, China is one of the main reasons for the measure. “We have seen problems in recent times with them buying large parts of ports or entire ports through state-owned companies. We need to have more control over the impacts on our critical infrastructures,” he says.
Social Democratic member of the EU Parliament, Christel Schaldemose, believes that port policy now contains elements of security policy resulting in necessary legislation. “We have several concrete examples of European ports where there have been problematic acquisitions from countries outside the EU, to say the least. Among others, China,” he says. /ritzau/