Assessing the performance of EU Atlantic ports

EU Atlantic ports as multi-activity transport and logistic nodes can play a major role in the sustainable development of traditional and emerging maritime sectors and in the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. While the Atlantic Action Plan 2.0 envisions that the EU’s Atlantic port infrastructure and services can play a critical role in blue growth by supporting established and emerging maritime sectors, the limited size and the peripheral status of many EU Atlantic ports creates challenges in attracting the necessary traffic flows to leverage capital for infrastructure upgrades to improve connectivity with the hinterland and other activities that foster sustainable developments. With this background in mind, this research assessed the efficiency of Irish and North Atlantic Spanish ports in generating traffic, identified the drivers of efficiency and examined changes in efficiency over the period 2000–15. Subsequently, cluster analysis was employed to develop a robust typology of ports for efficiency benchmarking.

Download the full policy brief