Sea Port system and the inland terminals network in the enlarged European Union

The last three decades have seen huge developments in international trading flows between Western Europe, North America and especially Asia. According to figures from the World Trade Organisation, global trade in goods will have grown by an average of 6.9% a year between 1997 and 2006. According to this, the combined transport volume in the European Union will probably triplicate until the year 2010 (+38%) and will have to accommodate a considerable part of the future growth of the total transport volume. Although sea ports of the Northern Range have been achieving huge extension projects, such as EUROMAX-terminal in Rotterdam, the container-terminal 4 in Bremerhaven or the Deurganck dock project in Antwerp, long waiting times for container barges in the ARA ports in the last years have confirmed that only extension projects will not solve the problem of seaport congestion. As a matter of fact, as the container transport volume will continue to grow, the links with the Hinterland will become more and more a critical factor for economic success of these seaports and the competitiveness of supply chains. Nevertheless the remaining bottlenecks on Hinterland routes, at terminals or along rail and barge connections, have demonstrated that the expansion of international trading requires new logistics strategies in continental Europe. The expected growth in transport and logistics will definitely place a great emphasis on the development of sea connections between main and secondary ports and most notably on Hinterland connections via barge and train. Based on the empirical evidence and market observations, this paper highlights the decisive role of terminals in the Hinterland and the changing structure of the terminal network in Western and Central & Eastern Europe (CEE). In this concern we will consider in a first step the main seaports of the Northern Range and their connected terminal network system in Western Europe, as well as the development on the Mediterranea- n/Black Sea Range and the terminal network in Central/Eastern Europe. Regarding to the changing conditions of port and liner shipping markets, the conclusion of strategic partnerships between sea ports and inland waterways ports such as Duisburg, and the ARA-Ports or between Constanta and Vienna has to be seen as a long term process in order to reduce port congestion and increase scales. As a matter of fact, inland terminals are growing in importance as consolidation hubs for continental freight but also as providers of value added services for the seaports. In this regard we will consider examples such as Regensburg, Frankfurt am Main, Basel and Budapest. These examples show that intermodal terminals located on existing transport corridors by rail, road and inland navigation between the heart of the EU, the Mediterranean, East and Central Europe provide important new impulses for distribution strategies in an enlarged European Union.