-
CENTRES
Progammes & Centres
Location
A cooperative, mutually beneficial approach among Global South ports is crucial for expanding their presence in global trade networks
.jpg)
Image Source: Getty
This is part of the essay series: Sagarmanthan Edit 2025.
Ports have always played a vital role in European civilisation. State-ports in Greece were the birthplace of the concept of the state, including thalassic, encompassing all areas of the conceptual and practical framework of statehood and human activities. In 2022, the European Union (EU) ports handled 23 percent of total port calls globally, with almost 3 million occurring in EU and European Economic Area ports. Among these, nearly 88 percent of the ships carried an EU flag, and the EU owned 90 percent.
Ports have always played a vital role in European civilisation. State-ports in Greece were the birthplace of the concept of the state, including thalassic, encompassing all areas of the conceptual and practical framework of statehood and human activities.
The EU Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) was introduced in 2007 following the enactment of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coming into force in 1994, and the implementation of the concept of Integrated Oceans Management (IOM). Within the IMP, 1,200 major and minor seaports play a vital role, as there are 42,000 kilometres of inland waterways with 200 ports, interconnected with seaports, and over 5,000 kilometres of European ferry routes, with 400 million passengers embarking and disembarking in European ports annually. The waterways system has been intertwined with Europe’s transport infrastructure, which includes over 217,000 kilometres of railways, 77,000 kilometres of motorways, and 325 airports. This multilayered and multidimensional transportation network has been developed not only at the national but also at the subregional and regional levels.
The significant role in that context plays the transboundary regionalisation and the transboundary and cross-border cooperation. The EU created the European Seaports Organisation (ESPO) and Transboundary Maritime Spatial Planning (TMSP) in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean, Sea Basin Strategies, and Macro-Regional Strategies (for the Baltic Sea Region in 2009 and for the Adriatic and Ionian Region in 2014). ESPO launched PortinSights, an online data platform that serves European ports by gathering RES throughput data, data on port governance, and environmental data, thereby building a knowledge hub for European ports.
The European Commission has also launched a special INTERREG programme that includes maritime cross-border territories and transnational initiatives for the EU operational framework 2021-2027. Under INTERREG, a collaboration exists, for example, between the maritime regions of Italy and France, especially seaports in both countries, aiming to improve their competitiveness and sustainability. This collaboration focuses on sustainable growth, environmental protection, improved accessibility, human capital development, and cross-border cohesion.
In modern intermodal transportation networks, EU ports are required to assume roles that are significantly different from those in the 20th century. Aside from traditional functions such as land provision and infrastructure development (including storage and transhipment facilities), ports have become central hubs that support the coastal community and are critical components of national and transnational transportation networks. These responsibilities now include managing production and distribution facilities, as well as offshore wind energy and onshore solar energy projects. Additionally, ports are transforming into facilitators and advocates of sustainable blue economy activities and solutions. By acting as blue accelerators, ports promote a cohesive and strong relationship among various sectors of the blue economy through establishing research spaces and test facilities for start-ups and innovative blue economy businesses. The port's role also involves becoming a pioneer and innovator in developing new technologies relevant to blue economy sectors, including shipping. Some port authorities aim to become operators of blue economy activities. To accelerate the sustainable development of coastal areas and make ports more capable in their new roles, the European Ocean Pact was adopted on June 5, 2025, with a 1 billion Euro budget.
The EU Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) was introduced in 2007 following the enactment of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coming into force in 1994, and the implementation of the concept of Integrated Oceans Management (IOM).
To support the new functions of ports, EU member states also utilise instruments from the Blue Ports Initiative programme, launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2019, enhancing their blue credentials and promoting sustainable development. There are 100 blue ports in the EU, climate neutral and smart, committed to sustainable climate action, particularly the use of innovative technology. They exchange information and knowledge, and cooperate in preserving the balance between the ecosystem and the needs of the blue economy sectors, especially between tourism and mariculture, food-processing, and shipbuilding industries. The protection of the coast in the context of sea level rise by building special dams and breakwaters is another field of cooperation.
To support the new functions of ports, EU member states also utilise instruments from the Blue Ports Initiative programme, launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2019, enhancing their blue credentials and promoting sustainable development.
The new conflicts in the third decade of the 21st century in Europe and the Middle East, near the Sea Lanes of Communication and seabed pipelines, have created a new set of security-related challenges for ports. A key responsibility involves actively monitoring and preventing hybrid war attacks. Hybrid war encompasses illicit activities such as jamming and spoofing ships' navigation systems as they approach ports, attacks on seabed telecommunications and energy infrastructure utilising both crewed and uncrewed surface and subsurface vessels, as well as ports' roadsteads being used as sites for the illegal transhipment of smuggled goods by grey zone fleets. An additional challenge is the growing phenomenon of the paramilitary fleet. All these security concerns require a new approach within the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) of the European Union, including closer cooperation with the Coast Guard and Navy, as well as using space and radar surveillance, and adapting some port infrastructure for dual-use purposes by the Navy.
The EU significantly developed its ports in the last 20 years, creating a mechanism of multilayered local, national, and regional cooperation of member states. This inclusive strategy within the Integrated Maritime Policy created successful results in the sustainability of ports’ development, supporting them in facing a growing span of tasks and challenges.
Leaders in the Global South, like India, could benefit from adopting certain patterns and tools used by the EU, as well as from the lessons learned by the EU. India could implement these, also in cooperation with the EU, in its initiatives related to concepts and programmes such as SAGARMALA, the North East Indian Ocean Region (NEIO) which included Australia, the Bay of Bengal, and the Andaman Sea triangle, the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor covering the entire Indian Ocean Region, the India-Japan Corridor between the East Indian Ocean and West Pacific Ocean regions, and the ASEAN-India Cruise Dialogue in the Bay of Bengal.
Tomasz Łukaszuk is a Researcher at the Department of Regional and Global Studies, Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw, and a former Ambassador of Poland to India (2014-2017).
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Tomasz Lukaszuk is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global India Research Fellow at Global India Program member of the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies University ...
Read More +
PREV
