A new alarm on the negative effects on Italian ports that will have the inclusion of maritime transport in the system for European Union Emissions Trading (ETS), with Directive, which will enter into force on the first of January, is was launched by the Association of Italian Ports. The new standard introduces carbon pricing by EU ETS ships traveling between European Union countries, but the directive it also has an extraterritorial scope being subject to the EU ETS half of a ship's emissions that sails between an EU port and a non-European port. The concern of Assoporti, as well as others European maritime-port organizations, is that to avoid payment of emission allowances different activities of transhipment of cargoes are transferred to ports outside Europe, and that, in any event, the latter increase their competitiveness to the detriment of that of European ports.

"It is evident - observed the president by Assoporti, Rodolfo Giampieri - that the objective of reducing emissions is fully acceptable to our sector. However, it must be ensured that everyone plays the game On the same level, what in English is called "level playing field", a key principle for the European Union. In In this context, it is unthinkable that the tax provided for ships from the ETS Directive (intended to complement the Cohesion) is counted for EU countries at 100%, for extra countries EU at 50% and even zero for ships, which despite crossing the Mediterranean, do not stop in EU ports. So - it has denounced the president of the association of the Authorities of Italian Port System - there is a risk of a collapse of traffic, in particular in the transhipment hubs, starting with Gioia Tauro, But that's not all. We keep in mind that, at the same time, traffic port is beginning to suffer the effects of a contraction of the consumption due to inflation'.

Highlighting that the cost-increasing effects deriving from the Directive, which will have to be transposed by the Member States by the end of the year, they are likely to have as a consequence the displacement trade to areas not covered by the same Directive, creating, in fact, a distortion of competition with an impact very negative on Italian ports, Assoporti has announced to have sent a formal reasoned and in-depth note of request to the European Commission which aims to: suspend its application to the maritime freight transport, in particular to European freight hubs containers; Making the maritime cost at European hubs (departure/arrival) equal to those that would register for a transhipment in non-EU ports; speed up the analysis envisaged by the Commission concerning a revision of the directive before the Maritime line transfer processes become potentially irreversible.

"Talk about the portualità - it has emphasized Giampieri - means to speak of real economy, that is, of people, of enterprises, of employment, of investments, of equipment and so on and we have to preserve value economic and social that all this means, intervening on those norms that can damage this ecosystem with rules Not the same for everyone. Reassures the fact - continued the president of Assoporti - that the topic is to the attention both the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and the government, to be then the subject of discussion in the appropriate for a. In the meantime, as Assoporti, we have sent a document to the European Commission that analyzes in detail the effects. The hope is that in a very short time we will heal the criticality, so that we can review some parts that They put our port in serious trouble, in a Market situation is already very complicated. The role increasingly protagonist that the port Italian is getting out in the global scenario - he concluded Giampieri - must have as its basis certain and equal market rules for everyone."