Concerns Rise as EU ETS Nears: Members Urge Thorough Assessment of Impact on Ports and Critique Proposed Measures as Inadequate for Mitigating Risks.
Immediate Assessment
“We need a real assessment of the impact of ETS for shipping on EU ports to be conducted now and not in two years when cargo will have left some EU ports for good. Port capacities in the Southern Mediterranean and other non-EU ports are important and they will continue to grow. They will represent attractive alternatives for the shipping lines that want to avoid ETS. Do we want to wait for this to happen and investments in EU ports to be put on hold or canceled?” says FEPORT Secretary General, Ms. Lamia Kerdjoudj
Ports have not been on the radar of the EU Commission when EU ETS for shipping was discussed, FEPORT, ETA, EMPA, and ECASBA members are now in a situation where shipping lines, which do not intend to pass on the additional ETS costs to their customers, will prefer to call non-EU ports with all implications this will have on employment and economic activity for EU ports. Furthermore, the Fit for 55 objectives to reduce emissions will be circumvented. Once the trade routes are shifted and the regulations are bypassed, it will be very difficult to reverse these detrimental effects.
Urgent Appeals And Action
The clock is ticking for EU ports. This is why FEPORT, ETA, EMPA, and ECASBA are urging the EU Commission to start a study about the impact of EU ETS on Shipping now. The terms of reference of the study could consider all solutions that are currently proposed by different port stakeholders to avoid cargo diversion.
At the same time, FEPORT, ETA, EMPA, and ECASBA call on the Commission to continue to raise its voice within IMO in favor of a global ETS and concurrently immediately explore the possibility of concluding bilateral agreements with EU neighboring countries that could adopt legislation similar to ETS and with converging timelines.
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Source: European Pilots
