Supporting Association
ESPO: THE FIRST PORT OF CALL FOR EUROPEAN TRANSPORT POLICY MAKERS IN BRUSSELS
The European Sea Ports Organisation is the principal interface between European seaports and the European institutions and its policy makers.
ESPO represents the port authorities, port associations and port administrations of the seaports of 23 Member States of the European Union and Norway at EU political level. ESPO also has observer members in Iceland, Ukraine and Israel.
Based in Brussels, the European Sea Ports Organisation ensures that seaports have a clear voice in the European Union. ESPO represents the common interests and promotes the common views and values of its members to the European institutions and its policy makers.
ESPO’s mission is to influence public policy in the European Union in order to achieve a safe, efficient and environmentally sustainable European port sector, operating as a key element of a transport industry where free and undistorted market conditions prevail, as far as practicable.
ECOPORTS: GREEN YOUR PORT!
EcoPorts was initiated by a number of proactive ports in 1997 and has been fully integrated into the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) since 2011. Having celebrated its 20th birthday in 2017, EcoPorts has become the main environmental initiative of the European port sector. The aim of EcoPorts is to increase awareness about environmental challenges, deliver compliance with legislation and to demonstrate a high standard of environmental management.
To reach this goal, the EcoPorts Port Environmental Review System (PERS) has been developed. It is the only port sector specific environmental management standard and is independently certified. The EcoPorts Self Diagnosis Methodology (SDM) provides the means to ports to self-evaluate their environmental management and allows ports to compare their performance against the sector’s benchmark.
EcoPorts has provided a system developed by ports, for ports, specifically designed to put ESPO’s policies into practice by encouraging the free exchange of experience on environmental issues among its members. EcoPorts aims to strengthen its network and assist more European ports in being prepared to face the environmental challenges of tomorrow.
The EcoPorts tools are available to ports and terminals outside Europe through the ECO Sustainable Logistic Chain Foundation (ECOSLC).
