Abstract:
The current economic scenario is changing rapidly as it is influenced by many global phenomena.
Future projections related to transport demand show the strengthening of Asian centrality in the
world economy and the growing importance of the Mediterranean Basin making seaports a strategic
assets. After analyzing the evolution of trade in European Union, the focus will move to the
transport infrastructure policy: the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) and the Connecting
Europe Facility. They will be discussed in detail, in order to understand how they have been
implemented through years and how the funds are distributed between the different modes of
transport. As a matter of fact, the main objective of this thesis is to understand the current transport
infrastructure policy can be considered sufficient or not in view of the future global scenario
reflecting the role of European ports as international infrastructure and gateways to global trade.
