The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has held this Monday in Athens a series of meetings with the Greek heads of Merchant Marine and Insular Policy, Vasilis Kikilias, and of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Dimas, in order to study the main challenges of maritime, rail and air transport in the midst of the transformation process of the mobility model in Greece.
In the maritime chapter, Puente and Kikilias have examined the position of both States regarding international initiatives for the decarbonization of the sector, including the emissions trading system (ETS) and the development of green maritime corridors.
The Spanish official has highlighted the "important coincidence" between Greece and Spain as southern European port powers, with shared interests in the face of growing competition from North African ports, which consolidates a "common position" before the European Union.
The two ministers have also emphasized the need to promote maritime corridors in which emissions are gradually reduced until they approach zero.
Land and air transport
Later, Puente held another meeting with the Minister of Infrastructures and Transport, Christos Dimas, and the alternate minister Konstantinos Kyranakis, in which they exchanged experiences in air transport, including Enaire's Startical project.
In this second meeting, Puente has pointed out that Greece is a country "tremendously interested" in collaboration with Spain, and has described road transport as a potential recipient of the "expertise" of Spanish companies.
In the same way, the minister has highlighted the possible synergies between Spanish companies and projects in Greece in areas such as railway management, with the involvement of the public company for Engineering and Transport Economics (Ineco), as well as in road transport.
During the meeting, issues related to cross-border connectivity and the trans-European transport network corridors were also addressed, areas in which Spain and Greece share interests derived from their peripheral character within the EU.
These meetings are taking place during the minister's stopover in Athens on his way to Cyprus, where next Wednesday he will take part in the Informal Council of Transport ministers of the European Union.