Acting as an important forum to bring together a number of stakeholders with a common maritime interest was the main theme of The Alliance of Maritime Regional Interests in Europe (AMRIE) conference organized by the Maritime Authority .

The majority of the stakeholders brought together in Malta hailed from regional and local authorities, as well as, other representative bodies pertaining to ports, ship owners, classification societies, research bodies and experts.

The main theme of this conference focused around the fact that the Mediterranean has become a veritable gateway to Europe in terms of transport of all sorts of goods by sea. With this in mind one cannot ignore today’s reality in which trade and commercial interests from the whole world are continuously entering the European geo-commercial domain through the Mediterranean. Such maritime trade routes are then channeled through European Ports. All the adjacent transport modes are placed under continuous operation to convey goods and people to different parts of the Globe. So much so, the Euro-Mediterranean dynamism has become a key to European economic viability and regional stability.

Maritime interests constitute a dominant strategic element in the geo-political infrastructure especially in today’s world where globalization and commercial international exchanges continue to develop at a rapid pace. The need for transportation of the growing volume of products, goods and people demanded by increasingly complex yet still distant markets, together with the need to find cost-effective alternatives to congested motorways, places greater focus on maritime transport and by extension, onto seaports.

Europe has a strategic interest in all things maritime. Europe is surrounded by four seas: the Mediterranean, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea; and by two oceans: the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans. The new Europe of 25 Member States has a coastline of 70,000 kilometres, several times longer than that of the USA and of Russia. Almost half of the European population lives within 50 kilometers of the coast, including those from the islands surrounding mainland Europe such as the island nation states of Malta, Cyprus, Ireland and the UK. Europe’s geographical reality means that over two thirds of the Union’s external borders lie along the coast and that the maritime spaces under the jurisdiction of the Union’s Member States amount to an area far greater than their terrestrial territory.

In the current international economic context, where demands on the oceans and seas are ever increasing, maritime activities are increasingly of critical importance to the European Union. Despite this, the European Union still considers and respects the peculiarities of its member states, particularly peripheral island member states. The EU has recognised that Malta’s contribution to Short Sea Shipping and Motorways of the Seas can be attributed to the definition of an inter-modal-hinterland and to the recognition of the hub-and-spoke concept.

As minister responsible for Maritime affairs and also for Competitiveness, I believe that shipping within the European Union also has its fair share of importance in making Europe more competitive. The European Union has relaunched the Lisbon Strategy, focusing it on a partnership for growth and employment. This strategy is designed to narrow the gap between Europe’s growth potential and that of some of its economic partners, while simultaneously renewing its competitiveness, its growth potential and productivity and strengthening social cohesion. It also places emphasis on knowledge, innovation and the optimisation of human capital.

I believe that it is important for Europe to recognise and assume the significance of her Mediterranean maritime dimension. Europe, as a world trade player, is actively seeking to revitalise and regenerate her economy, and the Mediterranean region factors very strongly in the equation. Due to these geo-political realities, and its strong historical links with the sea, Malta is currently investing in developments in the Mediterranean through projects related to the Trans-European Networks.

The Mediterranean has always been a source that feeds and serves the prosperity of Europe. Be it in terms of trade from the Far East or following the important discoveries in South America in the west, seaports were the safe haven for vessels laden with goods after sometimes treacherous sea-crossings. Some of the oldest European civilisations, with ports along the Mediterranean shoreline, prospered because of the increased commerce and exploitation of resources farther afield, facilitated by their ports. The ports of the Atlantic coast, the North Sea and the Baltic are also famous for their flourishing trade and for the exchange of ideas, architecture styles and peoples. Clearly, the Mediterranean will remain at the forefront in bringing new prosperity, ideas and practices to Europe.

The Alliance of Maritime Regional Interests in Europe (AMRIE) has. over the past two days. highlighted how the Euro-Mediterranean dimension is fostering this important economic role. The Mediterranean has been depicted as a rich source for economic viability, indispensable not only to Europe’s positioning in the world market but also to Europe’s single market and its Trans-European Transport Network.

Increasingly, in the Euro- Mediterranean region, there are competing demands on the use of maritime resources. At the same time sustainability concerns are driving policies for maritime transport to play a greater role in the movement of European freight, and renewable energy initiatives are leading to stricter requirements for space in coastal waters. These add to the need to coordinate marine safety measures effectively. It has been interesting to note how the various stakeholders present positively converged on the issue of adopting rational and, whenever possible, harmonised approaches to the treatment of risk and mitigation in the planning and policing of their coastal waters and to the need to monitor environmental impact.

As maritime transportation is so fundamentally important to support the growing economies, particularly in the Euro-Med region, the constant and never-ending improvement in all the aspects and disciplines of maritime safety and those related to shipping and ports activities is a key factor to all-round sustainable development. One also has to note here that over 90 per cent of EU external trade goes by sea and more than one billion tonnes of freight is loaded and unloaded in EU ports each year.

It has also been particularly reassuring to hear stakeholders present their comments and views on the relevant initiatives and projects that are underway in the EU maritime scene, focusing on coastal zone management, accident preparedness and response, safety awareness, traffic monitoring and management and the protection of environmentally sensitive areas.

Maritime security is also an important issue which cannot go unmentioned when addressing such fora.

With the implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code which the IMO introduced on 1 July last year, and the relevant EU regulations on port security, the maritime industry is faced with the challenge of how it can maintain compliance status. Maritime security implementation is now an intrinsic part of the sustainability forces in the Euro-Med economic value chain.

This conference has identified the importance of having the industry do all it can to prevent any incident that could trigger very negative consequences. With a services oriented economy heavily dependent on tourism, Malta is particularly vulnerable to the potentially disastrous effects of any security breach – not just in or around on islands, but throughout the whole region.

I believe that maritime security is very much about risk assessment, prevention tactics and the use of the concerted effort and cooperation of all the stakeholders and countries of the region. Harmonised vigilance and intelligence are the essential survival tools against an unknown enemy engaged in a battle without borders, and prompt response can prevent an incident from becoming a disaster.

Through its observations and remarks, this Alliance of Maritime Regional Interests in Europe (AMRIE) has certainly helped to make the multiple and complex factors of the maritime realities, within the context of the Mediterranean, stand out loud and clear. This will certainly help and enlighten all the present stakeholders and all those who are affected by them, to positively contribute to the goal of developing a Euro-Med vision that is both rigorous and supportive of actual current and future maritime needs.

Censu Galea is Competitiveness and Communications Minister