On 30 September, FEPORT called on the ENVI Committee of the European Parliament to address the risk of transhipment relocation ahead of its scheduled discussion of MEP Liese’s report on the ETS revision on 1 October. His report recognises what is at stake for European companies and includes relevant proposals to enhance industrial competitiveness while not losing sight of the EU’s climate targets.
Nevertheless, the report requires a number of targeted adjustments to make things also work for terminal operators which are in need of effective protection against transhipment relocation. If we fail to act, we do not only risk jeopardising employment and business activity in our ports, but we might also witness carbon leakage and a loss of revenues.
As set out in its recently published position paper, FEPORT therefore recommends strengthening the following aspects of the Commission proposal to further deter evasion, support the sector in its decarbonisation efforts and incentivise third countries to adopt a carbon pricing mechanism themselves.
- Prevention of transhipment/relay evasion: to prevent this evasion type where shipping companies skip EU ports for the transhipment of cargoes with a third country origin and destination, the Commission has proposed a cargo-based measure applying a discount to ships based on the share of non-EU destined containers carried on board. Article 12.3-g of the proposal only applies this measure to inbound voyages and to shipping of a 10,000 TEU capacity and above. To further deter evasion of all relevant routes and ship types, while strengthening the level playing between different ship sizes, FEPORT recommends extending this article to the outbound leg of the voyage and to ships between 5,000-10,000 TEU;
- Use of revenues: FEPORT welcomes the proposal and draft report’s ambition to earmark part of the revenues generated via ETS Maritime for the decarbonisation of shipping. However, port stakeholders should also be able to benefit from these funds, in particular if they take steps to electrify operations or provide onshore power supply to ships. Furthermore, to strengthen our competitiveness, we must ensure that support for fuel production also results in increased bunkering activity in EU ports;
- Climate diplomacy: to prevent carbon leakage and strengthen the global efforts in the fight against climate change, it is crucial to incentivise third countries to adopt a carbon pricing mechanism applying to the maritime sector themselves. FEPORT welcomes the Commission’s efforts aimed at encouraging this through the “ETS as a service” mechanism. Funding can be another tool to achieve this. FEPORT therefore proposes amendments to ensure that ETS revenues can only benefit third country ports in jurisdictions that apply a carbon-pricing mechanism equivalent to the EU ETS.
“We call on the members of the ENVI Committee not to miss the opportunity to protect EU ports and terminals against transhipment relocation. It is crucial to preserve the competitiveness of EU ports and the employment of port workers” says FEPORT Secretary General, Ms Lamia Kerdjoudj.
“FEPORT members stand ready to further engage with members of the ENVI committee to find solutions that will speed up the greening of shipping while safeguarding the competitive edge of the EU port sector” concludes FEPORT Secretary General.
