Consultation Responses

Danish Ports' Response to the European Commission's Proposal for a Directive on the Resilience of Critical Infrastructure

Danish Ports supports adapting and strengthening efforts to protect critical infrastructure (including ports) through a targeted assessment of all relevant natural and man-made risks that could affect the delivery of essential services, including accidents, natural disasters, public health crises such as pandemics, and hostile threats, including acts of terrorism.

We also support the idea that Member States can identify critical entities using common criteria based on a national risk assessment.

General comments on the proposal:

When Member States designate critical infrastructure, it is important to assess whether the costs and administrative burden for, for example, ports are proportionate to the threat.

The national authority should conduct a specific risk assessment of each port and, on that basis, determine whether it should be designated as critical infrastructure under the directive. It must also be specified which parts of, for example, the port would, in that case, be considered critical infrastructure.

It is important to involve companies and ports in this effort, as they can help identify critical infrastructure.

Danish commercial ports are already subject to stringent security measures. They are required to prepare vulnerability assessments and security plans; in addition, the NIS2 Directive, which also applies to ports, must be followed.

Danish Ports may fear that if ports are required to devote significant resources to implementing this directive as well as the NIS2 Directive, it could ultimately lead to unfair competition that favors land transport. This would ultimately also be detrimental to the climate.

It will also entail significant costs for critical entities, as defined in this Directive, when they are required to conduct their own risk assessments, take appropriate technical and organizational measures to enhance resilience, and report disruptive incidents to national authorities.

It is therefore very important that, if ports are also covered by this directive, this be coordinated with other initiatives so that the administrative and financial burden is minimized as much as possible.

Danish Ports proposes that financial and technical support be made available to the companies and ports subject to these requirements.

Specific Comments on the Proposed Amendments

It is stated in recitals 7 and 25 of the proposal that existing data and assessments conducted under other EU regulations should be utilized. This includes vulnerability assessments and security plans for ports.

We consider it of great importance that the transfer of relevant data and assessments be as straightforward as possible. This should be done using a matrix that is as simple as possible, in which the authorities of all Member States compile their information and assessments in the same template.

It is essential that the resources mentioned in Chapter II, Article 8, paragraph 4, be allocated equally according to a matrix, so that the subordinate authorities/organizations are able to contribute their cooperation and expertise to the overarching joint authority without compromising their other responsibilities and obligations. For the ports, this means, among other things, that the Danish Transport, Construction, and Housing Authority, the Danish Maritime Authority, the police, and the Danish Armed Forces are also allocated the appropriate resources to carry out the task.

With regard to Chapter III, Article 11, it is important to ensure that there is a sufficient common fund at the EU level to support subparagraphs (a) and (d) in the affected EU member states. That is, a fund or buffer for natural disasters, pandemics, and acts of terrorism that supports infrastructure affecting at least two Member States or one-third of the Member States, as also mentioned in the proposal. This could include the consequences of damage to the shipping channel leading into the port, e.g., due to the sinking of a large ship. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can point to the supply of vaccines to manufacturing facilities as well as the securing of transportation routes to EU countries.

Best regards

Danish Ports

Kasper Ullum ku@danskehavne.dk +4542449161