Germany: The Commission does not want Cosco in the port of Hamburg

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Chancellor Olaf Solz has come under fire this week, also from his coalition partners, over plans to give China’s Cosco a stake in a Hamburg port terminal.

The European Commission has warned the German government since last spring not to grant a stake in a Hamburg port terminal to China, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP today, confirming yesterday’s Handelsblatt report.

Chancellor Olaf Solz came under fire this week, also from his coalition partners, over his plan to make concessions to Chinese Cosco of a share in a terminal of the port of Hamburg, a city in which he has financed a mayor.

The Commission reviewed the plan and gave a negative opinion in the spring, arguing that sensitive information about port activities would fall into China’s hands, Handelsblatt revealed yesterday.

This opinion is advisory in nature and the final decision remains in the hands of the German federal government.

The port of Hamburg is the first commercial port in Germany and the third largest in Europe after Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium).

According to media reports, Olaf Solz was considering allowing this concession despite the contrary opinion of six federal ministries – Economy, Interior, Defence, Finance, Transport and Foreign Affairs.

Berlin’s approval will complete a deal reached a year ago between Hamburg’s port operator HHLA and Cosco, which will see the Chinese giant take a 35% stake in the container terminal. Tollerort (CTT).

If the German government does not oppose the project by the end of October, the decision will be ratified.

“Nothing has been decided. Many questions remain unsettled”, Olaf Solz said yesterday in Brussels, answering questions from journalists after the conclusion of the European summit.

And he emphasized that the acquisition of shares by Chinese companies “already exists in other ports in Western Europe”.

Antwerp and Rotterdamamong others, have entered into such agreements in the past, raising fears in Hamburg that it is at a competitive disadvantage.

But in Brussels they think that times have changed. The European Union attaches greater importance to the protection of strategic infrastructure after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Germany in particular has been criticized for heeding warnings about its dependence on Russian gas.

Germany’s Intelligence and Counterintelligence services are also negative about the prospect of selling strategic infrastructure, according to the WDR and NRD media.

RES-EMP

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