To the next Italian government the shipowners' association Assarmatori asks to protect all island connections and Motorways of the Sea by extending the exemption to these services the ETS, the Eu Emissions Trading System European provided for in the Fit for 55 package. If the EU Parliament has requested exemption from the ETS for routes subject to public service and whether the Council of the EU has done the same for connections with the smaller islands, according to Assarmatori this it is not enough. Speaking at the event "Naples Shipping Week" in progress in Naples, Matteo Catani, member of the board Board of Directors of Assarmatori and President of the Cabotage Commission and Motorways of the Sea, highlighted the need to 'confirm this structure also in view of the Directive final and ensure that all island connections and those of the Motorways of the Sea obtain the exemption. Otherwise - explained - we would be faced with a lesion of the principle of proportionality of the EU, given that Italy would be more penalized by these measures than other States having regard to its dependence on maritime transport'.

Catani and Alberto Rossi, secretary general of the association shipowners, they recalled that Italy, in fact, is a leader in the Mediterranean as regards the Motorways of the Sea, with a market share of 37%. "Putting this system at risk, which has also been realized thanks to important tools such as the Marebonus - warned Rossi - would mean running the risk of a reverse modal switch, i.e. from the sea to the road: other than environmental sustainability, they would increase the traffic, accidents and pollution. Another the goal - he added - must be to ensure that what has been collected with the ETS in Italy remains in our country and is allocated to finance investments on land and on board and in research and development, with the aim of making fleets more and more compliant with the law'.

Rossi then recalled that another regulatory proposal that looms over the role of the Motorways of the Sea is the application without corrections of the CII (Carbon Intensity Indicator) of the IMO, instrument providing for the assignment of a rating to ships from A to And. A recent RINA study for Asthmamators has shown how, without correctives, within three years, and therefore by 2025, the Italian ferry fleet would be in check, with more of 73% of ships not complying with the standard and therefore potentially no longer able to navigate. "We must - urged Rossi - change the metric. The CII in fact takes in also taking into account the percentage of emissions produced during the stop in port, consequently worsening drastically in a way the ratio between CO2 emitted and miles traveled is unjustified. You need to therefore a specific corrective, which would allow to make the rating profile of the Italian ferry fleet plus relevant to the rating profile defined for the world fleet.'