26/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - Further step towards monitoring of large ships' CO2 in the EU. On Thursday 26 March, the European Parliament's environment committee, which is chaired by Giovanni la Via (EPP, Italy), approved the informal first reading agreement with the Council on a draft regulation that is important for tackling climate change. The draft regulation of July 2013 seeks to establish a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) mechanism in the EU for CO2 emissions from large ships as a first step towards reducing the emissions of a sector which produces 4% of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions. It will amend Regulation 525/2013/EU. By large ships, what is understood is vessels of over 5,000 gross registered tonnes using EU ports (see EUROPE 11220). (Aminata Niang)