The European Ports Association once again urges the EU to introduce corrective measures to mitigate the impact on ports, both in in terms of carbon emissions and loss of opportunity the Emissions Trading Scheme ETS that is in force for the transport of maritime from 1 January 2024 and whose taxation mechanism, based on emission tables by type of tonnage gross gross capacity of more than 5,000 tonnes defined by the MRV system of monitoring, communication and verification, is 100% enforced of the maritime route between ports within the EU and Space and 50% of the maritime route in which one of the ports of origin or destination is within the EU-EEA. From mechanism are excluded as ports of call along the route some neighboring non-European container ports where at least 65% of traffic volumes are made up of containers being transhipped which, once scaled, do not interrupt the route subject to calculation. So far, the EU has only included in the Mechanism the Moroccan port of Tanger Med and the Egyptian port of Port Said East.

In view of the finalization by the European Commission its proposal for the revision of Directive 2003/87/EC established the ETS which was extended to the maritime sector, The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has called on the European Commission to "to mitigate the negative and unintended consequences of the current maritime ETS and thus restore the competitiveness and a level playing field for ports and for the short sea shipping sector in Europe".

If a first report on the impact of the ETS on transport adopted by the European Commission had not found significant changes in this transport sector ( of 19 March 2025), subsequently many representative associations of ports and shipping companies, while not presenting analyses had expressed concern and alarm about the distortions resulting from the application of the ETS to shipping.

With regard to the port market, so far only the Observatory EU-ETS promoted by the Spanish agency Puertos del Estado reported of data that would confirm signs of a negative impact of the system on some European ports ( of 16 December 2025 and 23 February 2026). Various shipowners' associations and shipping companies navigation have rather highlighted the negative effects products from the Short Sea Shipping system.

For its part, ESPO noted that, 'although the first and main impact is being felt in the large ports of transhipment of the Mediterranean, there are clear examples of Changes in port order orders in other parts as well of Europe, with the consequent loss of direct connections, example, with Asia. In addition to the loss of stopovers and connections - underlined the association - the ports concerned are suffering impact also on capacity investments terminal engineering. The capacity of the EU's neighbouring countries is increasing rapidly and dramatically, to the detriment of ports European Championships".

The European Ports Association also stressed that the EU Maritime ETS is negatively affecting maritime transport in some countries, "with clear examples of a modal return to road transport, which - ESPO recalled - is excluded from the ETS until 2028".

«The European Commission and European policymakers - commented Isabelle Ryckbost, Secretary General of ESPO - must finally draw lessons from these first years of application. The time has come to act! European ports are essential for the achievement of European objectives in energy transition and energy security, and to ensure Europe's military readiness. We can no longer accept a policy that creates carbon emissions and risks destroy the economic strength and competitiveness of ports strategically placed, which we desperately need to achieve Europe's overall ambitions in terms of geopolitical and geo-economic resilience, energy transition and of safety".

Referring to the effects on short sea shipping, Ryckbost highlighted that while 'for decades, Europe has pursued a clear policy to transfer traffic from the road to the sea through its well-known concept of "Motorways of the Sea"» , on the other hand, "the current EU ETS is doing everything to return short sea shipping goods to the motorways".

While ESPO has emphasized that the top priority is However, reaching a global agreement on carbon emissions maritime sector at the International Maritime Organization, immediately followed by an alignment of the EU system, in particular pending this agreement, the association nevertheless proposed to the EU Commission on remedial measures from the abolition of the criterion of 65% of transhipment traffic for the list of ports neighbouring transhipment containers excluded from the definition of port of call. In addition, ESPO has expressed firm opposition the extension of the scope for ships, calling for more attention to the specific impact on the regions outermost regions, and has called for a much larger share of the EU's of the revenues generated by the maritime ETS is reinvested in the maritime and port sector.