SuPorts Annual Conference
“PORT ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT”
“Perspectives, challenges and achievements of
the Italian port cities in the current EU and
national regulatory frameworks
Gabriele Guazzo – Cittalia
Corfu, 25 July 2012
The National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI)
ANCI was set up in 1901 and currently represents almost every
municipality in Italy (over 90% of the Italian population)
ANCI represents and safeguards municipalities' interests, lobbying
parliament, government, regions and European Union bodies
Specifically ANCI
participates in every institutional office where decisions concerning
the interests of local authorities are taken

participates in the official drafting process of new regulations of local
governments at Conferenza Stato-Città and Conferenza Unificata

expresses its positions on all policies concerning local municipalities
on behalf of local governments

A system of services
• Cittalia is the research foundation of the National Association of
Italian Municipalities (ANCI)
• Established in 2007, it carryies out research and studies on urban
issues and its role is to support ANCI as well as Italian municipalities,
in the production of the knowledge and tools necessary to meet the
ongoing economic and social challenges that accompany the process
of change faced by local
Authorities
• The Foundation contributes to the political, institutional and
academic debate about urban policies and encourages a European
vision drawing on international experience for inspiration.
• Its main purpose is to study and present the emerging issues of the
Italian and European urban situation, using a flexible interdisciplinary
approach and providing policy makers, the scientific community and
the public at large with relevant tools and analysis
Cittalia – Themes
Environment and energy
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Green open spaces, energy saving, alternative energy sources, new
building developments, pollution and refuse disposal
Planning and quality of life
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Urban planning and development, mobility and traffic, management
of public areas, security and quality of life
Welfare and society

Integration, housing, social marginalization, gender issues, young
people and social behavior
Competitiveness and innovation

Local development, innovation and research, local production
chains, relations between local authorities and new technologies
Institutions and organizations

Administrative reform, governance, federalism, local finance and
management
Cittalia – Activities and Methods
Cittalia's main activities are:
Research

Aimed at producing information in the urban field, encouraging
reflection and formulating proposals
Publication

Aimed at promoting political, institutional and academic debate and
at supporting policy making processes
Training and events
•
Aimed at spreading knowledge and information to cities
Cittalia uses an interdisciplinary approach, combining traditional social
research techniques with its own highly developed use of web tools
The Foundation brings together:



People: experts in the field of research and administration
Abilities and knowledge: from different disciplines and
methodological approaches
Institutions: universities, foundations and research centres
Background
• Around 1200 sea ports in the EU, of which many are small or
medium size ports
• Strategic importance (Ref. Green Paper of the EC “Towards a
future Maritime Policy for the Union: a European vision for the
oceans and seas”)
• Boosting activities and economic rise of port sector in the
EU: high expectations especially in relation to containers’
transport development due to the expansion of Asian markets
(in particular Chinese)
• Port sector in the EU and in Italy: trend is liberalization and
privatization
• in Italy, port logistics and services contribute to GDP for 6,8
billions Euro, employing 71.000 people
Need for more capacities, innovation, hinterland
connections and most of all….better governance and
coordination between local authorities and port
authorities.
Challenges
Challenge #1: Communication from the Commission on European
Ports Policy [COM(2007)616]: focus on sustainable development of
ports, but need for further specifications on how to implement the EU
environmental laws related to ports
Especially in Italy (but not only): legal uncertainty over the
implementation of the environmental laws concerning ports.
Challenge #2: COM(2007)616 underlines the need for a stronger
and more efficient cooperation between cities and ports (relation cityport recognized as a key element)
Especially in Italy (but not only): lack of coordination, slow
procedures, difficult governance, with significant exceptions
(e.g. successful waterfront renovation projects in Venice, La
Spezia, Reggio Calabria, Ravenna, Salerno and Trieste).
Challenge #3: increasing international competition and the
challenge of ναυτική γιγαντισμός (“naval gigantism”) require major
structural responses in order to take benefit of the expansion of the
sea traffic, while limiting CO2 emissions and pollution
In this context the Italian ports need to improve, broaden
and reorganize their infrastructures trying to catch up with
the better organized North-European ports
What’s going on in Italy
-Increased movimentation of goods through containers (from
1997 to 2007, average growth of annual containers
movimentation was 8% compared to 3% of the overall traffic’s
growth)
- low trans-oceanic traffic passing through Italy compared to
geopolitical / geostrategical potentialities of the Italian ports.
- as a consequence, increased use of the transhipment technique
(ports of Cagliari, Gioia Tauro and Taranto) due to the highly
fragmented Italian port system (massive presence of small and
medium sized ports), that forces to make frequent use of feeder
ships
Law reforms and national debate
• Clear legislative gap: reform of Law 84/1994 (on Italian ports
system) still underway (Law proposal AS n.2403 of the
Government in October 2010: criticisms)
• Piano Nazionale della Logistica 2011/2020 (National Logistic
Plan) promoted by the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport,
indicating 51 actions to be activated by the Government in order
to bridge the efficiency gap with other European ports systems
-objectives of the plan:
a)attract 2 million containers who chose to come to the far more
competitive ports of Northern Europe. The value of this objective
can range from 2 to 4 billion Euro
b) strengthening the role of Italian ports as the terminus of the
traffic routes with non-European countries of the Mediterranean
basin
c) attract at least 50% of the potential containers destined to
Central European countries that surround Italy (5-8 million).
Heavy environmental impact and
need to improve ports’ sustainability
achieving higher quality standards
What’s next
• EU reform of the ports system by 2013
Three areas involved:
-Reorganization of ports services with the aim of ensuring
competition and access to the market
- New infrastructures, in order to improve EU competitivity
- Improving the resources and funds’s system for the European
ports by encouraging private investments
• reform of the Italian Law on ports
- should be linked to the European proposal
- should simplify the governance and better define the
responsibilities of local authorities and port authorities in order to
improve the collaboration between different levels of governance
- should take into account all the EU and national “acquis” on
environmental legislation reaffirming the importance of the
protection of the environment and need for a more sustainable
management for the Italian ports.
Cittalia – SuPorts dissemination events
1) Rome - July 6, 2012 (national SuPorts event)
“SuPorts - Innovation and sustainability of local ports: the Italian
cities grappling with the redevelopment of urban waterfront”
2) Rome - November 9, 2012 (European SuPorts event)
“What future for European Local Ports? Smart Water Cities, Ecosustainability of Local Ports and Renovation of Urban
Waterfronts: the Role of Territorial Cooperation and the
Experience of the SuPorts Project” (organized in the framework
of the Open Days 2012)
Target groups: Local authorities, regional and national authorities,
port authorities, experts, EU institutions
THANK YOU FOR THE ATTENTION
Gabriele Guazzo
CITTALIA – ANCI RESEARCH CENTRE
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +39.06.76980866
Mobile: +39. 334.6589650
skype: gabrieleguazzo