EU ports set priorities on the agenda

TIN news:  ESPO said it welcomes the ‘Valetta Declaration’ which sets priorities for the EU’s Maritime Transport policy until 2020 and calls for additional measures to address the several challenges that ports face.

In a statement, ESPO cites recommendations for infrastructure investments and sets priorities for consideration. ESPO strongly believes that ‘accomplishing the internal market for maritime transport will improve the efficiency and attractiveness of the maritime transport and port sector’. To realize this, the main focus should be on administrative simplification and on removing customs obstacles to EU goods transported between European ports.

ESPO also highlights the important role that European ports play to global, European and national climate and decarbonisation agenda and clarifies the following:

• ESPO strongly believes that IMO would be by far the optimum forum in which to introduce CO2 target and measures to reduce emissions from shipping in line with the Paris Agreement
• ESPO believes that the roadmap agreed at the IMO MEPC meeting last October is a starting point for the discussions. On the basis of available scientific evidence, the IMO needs to strengthen its efforts and submit an initial reduction target to the stock-take process of the Paris Agreement in 2018 accompanied by short-term measures. By 2023, IMO should introduce the necessary target and measures to bend down the CO2 emissions curve.
• ESPO believes that a six year period is sufficient time for the IMO to discuss and agree on the necessary target and measures. 2023 must be seen as a milestone. In case this deadline is not met, EU measures will have to be introduced. It should however be clear now that in case of an international agreement by 2023, the EU measures are to be repealed.

“The decarbonisation of the shipping industry as well as the overall greening of the shipping sector, imply additional investments and facilities in ports, ranging from LNG refuelling installations, on shore power supply to additional facilities to manage new sorts of waste (e.g. scrubber waste). ‘’ the organisation supports and emphasizes that additional grants and facilities are required towards that end.

As regards air quality, ESPO supports the IMO of a global 0.5% sulphur cap in 2020 which is expected to bring enormous environmental and public health benefits.

Finally, as concerns the forthcoming review of the waste reception facilities directive, European ports are of the opinion that the current directive has been successful in substantially decreasing ship waste discharged at sea.

ESPO supports the alignment of the directive with MARPOL. The review should however safeguard the flexibility of the different fee systems while addressing the problem of delivery of an “unreasonable” amount of waste in a given port.