On Friday 25 October, the EU Council adopted its position on the proposal to amend the European Regulation imposing a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) mechanism for maritime transport emissions (amendment of EU Regulation 2015/757) to align it partially with the global system for collecting data on ship fuel oil consumption adopted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in 2016.
The agreement reached by the national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) means that the EU Council is ready to start negotiations with the European Parliament, which has yet to take a decision. It will probably not do so until June 2020.
The objective of this Regulation, proposed in February 2019, is to rationalise and reduce the administrative burden for shipowners and administrations that will have to comply with the obligations of both the EU and IMO systems. Last June, the Greek, Maltese and Cypriot delegations made no secret of the fact that they would have preferred full alignment with the IMO system, in particular to preserve the competitiveness of the sector (see EUROPE 12284/19).
The EU Council agrees that the partial alignment of the definitions, monitoring parameters and monitoring plans and models of the MRV Regulation contributes to reducing the administrative burden for shipping companies and national authorities and facilitates compliance with the reporting obligations under both systems.
However, it considers that the monitoring and reporting of cargo carried should remain mandatory, as this information contributes to a better understanding of the energy efficiency of ships. The Commission had proposed to make cargo transported a voluntary reporting element.
The EU Council also added a review clause asking the Commission to review the functioning of the Regulation.
“The maritime transport sector has to become more energy efficient and use less fuel [...]. We want companies and the general public to know how much fuel each ship uses. This means we will be able to compare ships’ emissions and choose more energy efficient ones. This has environmental benefits”, comments Finnish Environment and Climate Minister Krista Mikkonen, President-in-Office of the EU Environment Council, in a statement.
In the European Parliament, Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA, Germany) is rapporteur for this dossier. The Parliament Environment Committee is expected to take a decision in May 2020.
It should be recalled that the monitoring obligations of the IMO will start to apply in 2019 and the reports will have to be submitted in 2020.
In the EU, CO2 emissions from maritime transport increased by 48% between 1990 and 2008. In 2015, this sector was responsible for 13% of the EU transport sector's emissions. International maritime transport emits about 2 to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than each individual EU Member State emits. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)