New European Ports Strategies and Policies in the Globalisation Crisis

Following decades of domination of public policy by neoliberalism, we have entered a period of interregnum, characterised by the loss of momentum of globalisation and multilateralism and the rise of more protectionist forms of public action. The objective of this chapter is to examine the implications of the globalisation crisis for public action strategies in European ports. A diachronic and comparative analysis of strategic documents drawn up at European, national, and local levels demonstrates that the globalisation crisis is leading to a geopolitisation of European port thinking, while the old logics of competition and competitiveness remain in place to a certain extent. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the thinking and strategies at different levels reveals the existence of scalar divergences, with geopolitisation at the European level and an intensification of neoliberalisation at the local level. This tension between the two logics is exemplified by the cases of the ports of Trieste, Genoa, and Hamburg, where Chinese investment has resulted in conflicts between local scales that are constrained by a supply-side policy and demonstrate minimal attention to the origin of investment, and the European scale that is more preoccupied with the geopolitisation of public policies.