Jan Wedemeier

The quality and efficiency of the northern German ports’ hinterland connections define their competitive potential. The assessment of gross domestic product achieved within a certain travel period via rail, road, inland waterways and intermodal freight transport provides a major indicator for the competitive positioning of the northern German ports. To measure this potential, we use simple travel time matrices for different modes of transport. The achievable purchasing power of the hinterland territories is thereby a prime determinant of port competitiveness. The European Union’s Trans-European Transports Network programme (TEN-T) may advance Hamburg and Bremen/Bremerhaven ports’ competitive situation by improving their hinterland accessibility, removing cross-border bottlenecks and upgrading infrastructure and streamline transport operations throughout the EU.

The paper analyses the innovation capabilities and development of the Baltic Sea region within the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy. The ongoing structural change towards service and knowledge societies, innovations, and the increasing integration of markets will have considerable influence on the European Union. In March 2010, the European Commission presented the Europe 2020 strategy, which is supposed to push the EU to become the smartest and most competitive region in the world. Among the EU member states, the Baltic Sea countries are effective in bringing up innovative solutions and establishing cooperation between science and business. However, the Europe 2020 strategy sets ambitious goals and some of the Baltic Sea countries will presumably fail to meet them. The enormous disparities between the countries and between central and peripheral regions within a country can thus be observed in selected indicators. These findings need to be recognised to intensify the efforts to transform the region into an innovation leader.