Brussels, 1 December 2021
On the 1st of December, the Commission presented to the TRAN Committee the FuelEU Maritime proposal.
The Rapporteur on the file, MEP Jörgen Warborn, welcomed the Commission proposal but voiced his concerns regarding the proposal’s possible loopholes and negative consequences. During his intervention, MEP Warborn underlined the necessity to balance all the interests at stake and focused on two main topics: LNG and OPS. Firstly, he stressed the transitional role of LNG, an important bridge technology capable of reducing Co2 emissions and suitable for blending with traditional fuels without the need to retrofit vehicles engines.
Regarding OPS, he reiterated his support in further deploying OPS, but also warned his colleagues regarding the risks of making this technology mandatory in all situations. Therefore, he asked the Commission if it would not be preferable to ensure its deployment only where it is useful.
As Shadow Rapporteur, MEP Vera Tax took the floor stating that she had already spoken to many stakeholders which have concerns regarding this legislation. Firstly, she stated that the Commission should make sure to address the issue of competition distortion between EU and non-EU ports when it comes to fuel bunkering. Secondly, she criticized the complexity of the rules regarding the certification of green fuels full life cycle for both users and suppliers of marine energy.
From the Commission side, Mr Sandro Santamato gave a presentation regarding the maritime sector’s targets to reduce emissions by 90% by 2050. The sector will be required to take significant action on both energy efficiency and use of cleaner types of energy. The Commission believes there is a need for measures to address all aspects of production, distribution and demand, which are already partly covered in the RED and AFIR.
The goal of the proposal is to complement the inclusion of maritime transport in the EU ETS and to provide regulatory predictability. Mr Santamato mentioned that - in parallel to the proposal for Fuel EU the EU submitted to the IMO a similar proposal that garnered some support and was also co-sponsored by the United States.
Regarding OPS, the Commission considers it to be a mature technology and is looking into the question of its deployment.