North-west European ports agree four priorities for cross-border cooperation

At a Port Summit on 5 October, leaders from Flanders, the Netherlands and North Rhine-Westphalia agreed a declaration to strengthen the Antwerp–Rotterdam–Rhine-Ruhr Area (ARRRA). The Port of Rotterdam Authority says the four priorities are stronger circular value chains and a cross-border market for secondary raw materials; faster cooperation on CO₂ and hydrogen infrastructure; more sustainable and resilient inland navigation; and automated freight transport by road and water on cross-border corridors such as Antwerp–Rotterdam. The governments are also asking the European Commission to recognise ARRRA as a strategic European port-industrial cluster. These are agreed priorities and calls for cooperation, not a report that the proposed transport systems are already operational.