Maritime Mission Statement

Since becoming Vice President of the EAASP (Maritime), I have found this a highly stimulating and exciting environment. It is a complex domain, with many questions looking for answers. In my view, we can only find these answers through co-operation and concrete activities.

The Association formulated a mission statement and set out a strategy, both reflecting the high value on good collaboration in Europe between organizations and public - and private partners (European Criminal Intelligence Units, SAGMaS, MARSEC, BSRBCC, FRONTEX, AQUAPOL.

Policy development opportunities

In our strategic plannes we also identified a number of specific goals:

• Developing new legislation in the field of combating terrorism
• Short Sea Shipping –develop further cooperation and operational activitys
• Look to encourage and develop arrangements for the exchange off staff
• Expanding the number of members
• Changing the direction of Association (from a conference to an influential expert platform)
• Promoting common standards
• Improving communication within EAASP
• Exchanging experiences (best practice)

This has resulted in being invited more frequently to take part in working groups across Europe.
Another eaxample is the  EU funded project EPSIEN (European Port Security Information Exchange Network). The aim of the project is to create a network of officials in participating EU member states for the exchange of information in order to define and promote harmonised dissemination as regards security incidents at port and fleet level in member states.

Objectives

I want to build on the developments already underway. With this in mind, I made a plan with activities focused on the herafter, of course topics in line with the aforementioned developments.
Acquiring more members, and get existing members more involved (recognizing each other's capabilities and limitations)

• Demonstrating the advantages of membership (recognizing differences in responsibilities and possibilities)
• Giving more body to concrete collaborative partnerships (internal and external)
• Taking stock of the areas where the exchange of information can be improved
• Making the website into a true platform
• Keeping track of developments within the EU
• Developing closer contacts with other EU maritime organizations, such as Aquapol, CCIC, Frontex etc.
• Improving contactability in concrete situations
• Clarifying organization of port security (structure and procedures / who does what)
• Stimulating exchanges of colleagues between member organizations

In addition to these specific areas, it is clear that the EAASP's strength lies in expertise and in the excellent network it provides.

When it comes to tackling the above subjects, I propose that we make more use of the new website as a platform. That will enable us to exchange operational knowledge and information more swiftly and efficiently, without too many demands on members' time and energy. And I believe it will also give the network more concrete form. The EAASP, with its excellent network, is in a good position to complement the work of other organizations.  The ideal situation would be to be able to look back next year and say that all potential members have indeed signed up, that we are all familiar with each other's working methods, and that information and operational knowledge are exchanged efficiently and effectively. Of course, we all realize that that is a utopian vision. Nevertheless, there are areas where tangible progress could be made in a relatively short space of time.

Our starting point is: to make European Ports the safest ports of the world. We can’t do this alone, therefor I invite you to deal this point with me.

Peter van den Berg
Vice president EAASP (Maritime)