an amendment to the new regulations EU for the recycling of the ships can make to leaven the costs of the ports of call in the European ports



The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has manifested worry for the intention expressed from numerous europarlamentari to confirm an amendment to the relative proposal of regulations to the demolition and the recycling of the ships that are advanced the slid spring from the EU commission ( on 23 March 2012), amendment that has the objective to institute a mechanism of financing in a position to guaranteeing an aware money laundering of the ships.

The association of the European ports has specified that such bottom would be financed through a tax based on the tonnage that the Harbour Authorities would have to make to pay to all the ships that they independently land in the communitarian ports, from their flag. The tax - it has denounced ESPO - could determine an undesired medium increase of 25% of the harbour taxes and in some ports the amendment would have the consequence to cause a doubling of the level of the taxes.

In the initial proposal of review of this project of regulations introduced from the Commission for the Atmosphere, the public health and alimentary safety of the European Parliament (reporter the Swede Carl Schlyter) is included the amendment 44 that previews the introduction of a new article (5 second) based on which the communitarian States will have to guarantee the collection in their ports of a tax for the demolition poured from ships EU (and also from not-EU ships, as expected from other amendments) pairs to 0,03 euros for ton of tonnage. The amendment previews that for the ships that climb regularly and frequently the same port, which the ferries, the ports EU apply for the taxes for the recycling the same reductions in price that apply for general the harbour taxes. The taxes for the demolition and the recycling would come collections and transferred to a Bottom for the recycling constituted from the EU commission with the scope to do so as that the recycling of the ships carried out in compliance with the regulations is economically feasible. The amendment establishes that such Bottom previews a fixed prize to a minim of 30 euros for every ton of displacement to empty ship to assign to the included yards of naval demolition in the European directory for the recycling of the ships.

According to a first it estimates, supposing that annually they make port of call in the ports of the European Union ships for a total of about four billions of tons of tonnage, the collected withdrawal of money would pile to a total of 120 million euros and this would in vain allow the distribution of a prize pairs to a maximum of 75 euros for ton of displacement on an average of 1,6 million tons of displacement in vain of under way ships EU every year with the demolition.

Objective of the amendment is that such economic instrument allows to dissuade the last owner of the ship to carry it to the demolition in nations in which the norms on the demolition and the recycling of the ships they are less rigorous. The scope is also to dissuade the owner carrying out a change of flag of the ship to the aim to elude the regulations of the EU.

The first reaction of ESPO to the presentation of amendment 44 and of other proposals of modification of the regulations has been exactly to evidence as the new tax would determine a meaningful increase of the costs of port of call of the ships in the European ports, increase that medium would arrive to 25%. Today the association of the European ports has denounced moreover that an appraisal of the impact of the proposal of modification of the regulations, carried out moreover taking into consideration the alarm launch to beginning year from ESPO about an excessive increase of the level of the harbour taxes, has reached the amazing conclusion - has emphasized ESPO - than not sussisterebbe the risk of a loss of the marine traffic in when the harbour taxes constitute only a minimal part of the cost total of the travel of a ship. As if the appraisal of the impact were not enough - it has evidenced ESPO - recommends to increase the tax for the recycling of the ships to 0,05 euros, figure that now figure in the proposed amendment.

ESPO therefore has thrown again an alarm for the devastating impact that the introduction of the new tax would have on the activity of the European ports: "we speed up of eurodeputati - it has clarified the general secretary of ESPO, Patrick Verhoeven - to resume in consideration this badly conceived proposal. The risk of a transfer of the traffic towards ports EU - it has explained - is not absolutely real, above all in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. The proposal can also involve the modification of the programming of the ports of call and is destined to provoke an ulterior modal transfer towards less efficient modalities of transport".

"In a moment in which all we are working a lot hardly in order to improve the competitiveness of the European ports and the marine transport - it has continued Verhoeven - this measure will meaningfully increase the cost of port of call in the ports of the European Union. Moreover it will transform the Harbour Authorities in tax-collectors of the taxes and therefore it will involve a remarkable administrative and technical increase for our associates. The members of the Parliament must understand that these undesired consequences for the marine field by far exceed the benefits that can bring to an aware recycling of the ships".

ESPO has remembered that the political groups of the European Parliament will be pronounced in the next few days on a compromise amendment and that such amendment will be voted by the Commission for the 26 Atmosphere next March.