The shipowners' associations Assarmatori and ANAVE highlight the critical elements of the proposal for the inclusion of shipping in the EU ETS

To give voice to the reflections of the European shipowning industry the trade associations of Italy and Spain have thought of it. 'The European Parliament's vote against the report on the reform of the ETS for emission allowances and its simultaneous referral to the ENVI Commission - commented Matteo today Catani, director of the Italian Assarmatori as well as CEO of Grandi Navi Veloci - provides the Italian shipping and to the European one as a whole the time essential to continue the dialogue with the various interlocutors on the critical issues of the Fit for 55 package and reveals a grip of conscience, at least as regards maritime transport, the complexity of the legislation in question, relative the abatement of fumes by ships and the the need to carry out further investigations'.

Noting that "from Europe, but also from the IMO, they come signals relating to the desire to speed up on the subject of reduction of emissions", Catani noted that, however, "To date there is no clarity on which technologies can allow in such a short period of time to reach the expected results. And this leads to strong uncertainties about the investments and a lack of full awareness on the part of the legislators, on the time needed for the technological adaptation of ships'.

Catani recalled that for some time Assarmatori emphasizes how the introduction of shipping in the allowance trading system of emissions is only viable if some changes are implemented substantial compared to what is currently envisaged: among these a more realistic phasing-in timing, exemption for some transport segments (such as those that guarantee the territorial continuity and transhipment), a monitoring the impact of the measure and the use of derived resources the purchase of emission allowances to finance research and technological investments necessary to achieve the objectives. "Finally - said Catani - it is necessary consider the entire life cycle of fuels, thus assessing also the emissions produced during the production, transport phase and storage that can change and also significantly the real impact on reduction targets. Also in this perspective the Decision of the European Parliament to allow more time for reflection and analysis is therefore of essential importance for avoid making untimely decisions that risk going contrary to the objectives set in terms of sustainability».

Before explaining why, in the opinion of the Asociación de Navieros Españoles (ANAVE), the proposal to amend the Eu European Emissions Trading System (ETS), some critical issues for maritime transport companies Spanish, the Madrid association recalled what are the points cornerstone, for better or for worse, of the proposed amendment, which is it was presented with a report drawn up by the German Peter Liese. ANAVE explained that the proposal, with regard to transport maritime, has significantly tightened the one presented last year July from the European Commission ( of 14 July 2021), proposing first of all to extend the field of application to other greenhouse gases and not only to CO2. In addition, the Spanish association recalled that the proposal voted yesterday the European Parliament expects the measures to be applied vessels of at least 400 gross tonnage, while the EU Commission proposal provides that they apply to vessels of at least 5,000 GRT, and that apply to 100% of the emissions of sea voyages to and from third countries compared to the 50% proposed by the Commission. In addition, gradualness has been eliminated the entry into force of the rules.

ANAVE also listed the merits of the proposed amendment illustrated by Liese, starting from the fact that it must be the commercial operator of the vessel to bear the costs of the ETS and from the creation of an "Ocean Fund" to be fed with the 75% of the revenue generated by the ETS and with 100% of the penalties of the FuelEU Maritime initiative, a fund whose resources would be resources used for projects enabling decarbonisation of the maritime industry. In addition, the shipowners' association Spanish pointed out that among the amendments adopted yesterday with 365 votes in favor and 263 against there is the exemption of travel seafarers carried out under a service contract public or subject to public service obligations. To this By the way, ANAVE recalled that in Spain all services regular maritime transport of passengers, vehicles in tow of passengers and ro-ro goods between ports located on the peninsula and in Non-Peninsular Spanish territories are subject to obligations of public service.

According to ANAVE, "however, these improvements are not sufficient to ensure territorial cohesion in Spain and avoid distortions of competition. Among other issues - specified the Spanish association - it would be necessary to define a special treatment for the Canary Islands as a region outermost, as agreed yesterday by the plenary session of the European Parliament for Air Transport'.