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Knut Fleckenstein may not be a name that is widely known in the port industry, but he is set to play a pivotal role in it, as the European Parliament’s rapporteur on market access to port services and financial transparency of ports. Having had its two previous attempts to liberalise the port service market thrown out, the European Commission is once again trying to get something through that will satisfy most of the interested parties, if not all. “I am cautiously optimistic that the port package III will have a better ending than its two predecessors, provided that the context of the state aid guidelines is clarified and that the concession directive has been adopted in the meantime,” writes Mr Fleckenstein.