The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has urged the European Commission to use its review of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to address the impact of the scheme on European ports and short sea shipping.
The Commission is currently finalising a proposal to review Directive 2003/87/EC, which was extended to the maritime sector in January 2024.
Since the maritime ETS proposal was launched in 2021, ESPO has warned that the system’s regional scope could lead to carbon and business leakage. Under the current rules, voyages between EU ports are subject to a 100 per cent ETS charge, while incoming and outgoing calls from European ports are subject to a 50 per cent charge.
ESPO said the upcoming review should mitigate the “negative and unwanted consequences” of the current system and help restore competitiveness for Europe’s ports and short sea shipping sector.
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According to the organisation, the first and main impact is being felt by major Mediterranean transhipment ports. ESPO also said changes in call orders are emerging in other parts of Europe, affecting direct connectivity with markets including Asia.
The organisation added that some affected ports are seeing an impact on terminal capacity investment, while capacity in neighbouring non-EU countries is increasing rapidly.
ESPO Secretary General Isabelle Ryckbost said: “The European Commission and Europe’s policy makers must finally draw the lessons of these first years of application. It is high time to act! Europe’s Ports are key in realising Europe’s energy transition and energy security goals and guaranteeing Europe’s military preparedness.
“We can no longer accept a policy that creates carbon leakage and risks to destroy the economic strength and competitiveness of strategically situated ports, which we desperately need to realise Europe’s overall ambitions in terms of geopolitical and geo-economic resilience, energy transition and security.”
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ESPO also warned that the maritime ETS is negatively affecting short sea shipping in some countries, with examples of cargo shifting back to road transport. Road transport is excluded from ETS until 2028.
Ryckbost added: “For decades, Europe has been pursuing a clear policy to move traffic away from roads to maritime through its well-known concept of ‘Motorways of the Sea’. The current EU-ETS is doing everything to put short sea shipping cargo back on the motorway.”
ESPO has submitted proposals to the Commission as part of the review. Its priorities include reaching a global agreement, followed by alignment of the EU system.
Pending such an agreement, ESPO has called for the 65 per cent transhipment criterion to be lifted for neighbouring container transhipment ports excluded from the definition of port of call.
The organisation is also opposing a broader vessel scope, calling for more attention to the impact on outermost regions, and asking for a much larger share of maritime ETS revenues to be directed back into maritime and port sector investments.
Ryckbost concluded: “ESPO and its members are and remain fully committed to Europe’s decarbonisation agenda. However, one can no longer ignore the unwanted impact of the current EU-ETS both on decarbonisation and on competitiveness.
“The European Commission is currently making big efforts and developing new instruments to accelerate, reindustrialise, simplify and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and resilience. But these efforts are a drop in the ocean for ports if the current EU-ETS maritime is not seriously reviewed.”
For more information:
The European Sea Ports Organisation – https://www.espo.be/
