The Italian Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Edoardo Rixi, announced that yesterday in Brussels, on the sidelines of the informal Transport Council, a meeting was held in attended by representatives of Spain, Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania, France, Germany and Slovenia with The objective, he explained, is to "consolidate the positions and continue to keep the EU Commission's focus on the ETS dossier for the maritime sector'. Following the the extension of the ETS to shipping for the exchange of EU emission allowances, with effect from 1 January last, In fact, several European ports have expressed concerns about the negative impact on the competitiveness of ports that could lose market share compared to the non-European competitors.

Rixi said it was "a meeting useful for defining the next steps by Member States share the need for urgent action to address the impact of the extension of the ETS Directive to the sector maritime. At stake, he said, is competitiveness of EU transhipment ports, without any positive effect on the reduction of emissions that would only be "diverted" on non-EU ports'. The common objective - specified the Deputy Minister - is "to avoid weakening the capacity of the at a time when geopolitical crises are threatening the Our logistics lines are at great risk."