Dear Peter, 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

First of all, I think I speak for everyone when I wish the Danish Presidency a good start! 

Especially in the area of security, the launch of ProtectEU sets out an ambitious agenda, and I am glad that Denmark supports our priorities  – on issues as wide-ranging as the fight against organised crime, to lawful access to data. And of course, better protecting our Ports. 

We launched ProtectEU only a few months ago, but already the geopolitical situation has begun to evolve in the meantime. This is the first point of the strategy: that we must be quicker to anticipate evolving threats and to proactively respond to them. 

For example, we have witnessed an increase in the cynical threats coming from Russia and Belarus – using criminal networks and migrant smugglers to attack us, including by weaponising migration. At the same time, the continued volatility in the Middle East creates ongoing security concerns. 

Against this background, it is good to have clear success stories like the Ports Alliance because we need to understand what works, and to build on that success. In a moment, I know Beate will speak more on the concrete success stories and next steps, so I wont go into details now. 

The point, though, is that we need to build on that success, your willingness to cooperate with each other. For me, that should happen in two ways: 

First, by expanding the scale of the Alliance. That means an increase in the number of ports covered by the public private partnership - and we warmly welcome Norway and Switzerland into the Alliance. It also means doing more on the other two pillars of the Alliance: the customs pillar and the law enforcement pillar. It is only by expanding in scale that we will stop the so-called ‘waterbed effect, where criminals shift their activities to smaller ports, or use chemical concealment to make it harder for us to detect cocaine, for example. 

The second way we build on our success is by expanding the scope of our work on Ports. Stopping drugs trafficking will be only one aspect of our wider EU Ports Strategy. As part of our work on preparedness, we also need to think about how best to protect port infrastructure from all types of security threats, including hybrid and cyber-attacks. Any further work on the Alliance must therefore be fully complementary to our work in ensuring that our EU maritime infrastructure is resilient and autonomous. 

Ports also have an important role in bolstering the EUs defence – we cannot forget that these are essential logistical hubs for the movement of soldiers and military supplies. A good example is the Port of Rotterdam, where the Netherlands has begun planning for the role Europes largest port might play in a potential conflict. This kind of comprehensive thinking enhances our overall security and preparedness. 

Finally, we build on the Alliances success by integrating it into our wider efforts to protect the EU. For example, if the European Union Drugs Agency gathers new intelligence on the latest market trends, this can help us steer our detection efforts - for example from cocaine to synthetic drugs. But for information to lead our action, we need to actively collect, share and listen to it.  

If Europol is seeing shifting patterns of supply from one Member State to another, this can help us prioritise our detection resources by investing more in the areas most at risk. 

And if the Alliance is causing a shift away from commercial trade vessels towards submarines and speedboats, we need to work with Frontex and our border guards to close off those routes, too. A good example came from Ireland last week, where the authorities intercepted a 440kg shipment of cocaine that landed by speedboat from a mother vessel that came from South America. As we see here, criminals are constantly ready to react to enforcement activities - and we need to stay just as vigilant. 

But for all of this to work, the most important factor is that we coordinate effectively. That is why I am asking EU Agencies to step up their cooperation with each other, and with their partners in the Ports Alliance. This should include, of course, the structured meetings such as this one, but it must go beyond this. We need a culture of picking up the phone and staying in touch, including with the local authorities. This involves proactively discussing any concerning changes in port business patterns or the physical environment of the ports. Sharing information should become a habit. 

Now is the moment to think about this: Because as everyone knows, when you scale up, there is always a risk that cooperation becomes more difficult. And as we become more successful in stopping trafficking in drugs, one thing we can be sure of: the criminals will become more creative in trying to outthink us. 

So it will always be a cat-and-mouse game. But our strength lies in cooperation, and our commitment to standing on the right side of the law, together. 

Thank you.