The impact of EU enviromental law on ports and waterways; Including a proposal for the creation of Portus 2010, a coherent EU Network of Strategic Port Development Areas

Port and waterway authorities and private investors encounter tremendous difficulties in complying with EU environmental law. Frequent disruptions of new projects jeopardise the achievement of transport policy objectives which - in order to cope with growing demand and to support a modal shift - presuppose the provision of additional waterway and port capacity. The prevailing malaise is caused primarily by the scarcity of both natural habitats and potential waterway and port development areas -which in many cases overlap geographically - and by the undeniable ambiguity of the EU Birds Habitats and Water Framework Directives. In this study, which was carried out within the framework of the MTCP, Professor van Hooydonk analyses the current legal framework and the issues raised in eighteen leading cases. The study contains elaborate policy recommendations for a better integration of transport and environmental policies.