Smart Ports as Drivers of Sustainability

Digitalization, automation and sustainability of most aspects of business and human life are at the core of the strategies of several international organizations, the EU and many domestic policies, among others. These goals go hand in hand, being the former also relevant instruments for achieving the latter. This considerations are particularly true for international commerce, transports and logistics (cf. UNDP Digital Strategy 2022-2025, p. 47). The latter two play an important role for most of the SDGs and the related targets. Their relevance has two faces: first, transports are “responsible for about a quarter of the EU’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and causes air pollution, noise pollution and habitat fragmentation” (European Environment Agency, 2021): therefore in order to achieve environmental sustainability, it is necessary to change the current mobility system and approach to trade. Second, transport and logistics services and infrastructures are crucial for enabling the sustainable development of most – if not all – the aspects of businesses and daily life considered by the SDGs. They are also a key factor for enhancing the economic and social progress in developing Countries. The development of transport infrastructures and networks is an important component of national economic, environmental and transport policies, which however are currently subject to the strategies and constraints set at the EU level in order to avoid unlawful State aids or the disruption of the relative markets. Moreover, given natural monopolies, oligopolies and market failures that are quite common in transportation and the high need for safety and security, the sector is subject to both economic and technical regulation. Considering the different transport modes, almost the 90% of goods are carried by sea. In the EU, seaports are the gateways to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Where included in an efficient multimodal transport and logistics network, they are therefore of high relevance for the EU sustainable development. Consistently with the above-mentioned policies, within the EU Green Deal, in 2021 the EU published the call “Green airports and ports as multimodal hubs for sustainable and smart mobility” for financing proposals for airports and ports, that could – among the others – achieve the integration with green and smart logistics and operations and show “the positive environmental effects of digitalization in ports”. Among the several examples of implementation of the above-mentioned strategies, are smart ports. From technical and business perspectives, there is neither a uniform model of smart port nor a unique definition. From a legal point of view, smart ports entail issues pertaining to both Public and Private Law. The article addresses the role of Industry 4.0 in seaports as an enabler of sustainable development, identifying the current issues and challenges that smart ports present in particular from a Public law perspective, such as the powers and limits – under the EU law – for EU member States to finance the related projects and the powers, roles and responsibilities of Port Authorities and of the other different subjects.