The Council of the EU adopted, by written procedure on Friday 5 June, conclusions aimed at making the EU maritime transport sector carbon neutral, safe, automated and competitive.
These conclusions endorse the detailed provisions in the declaration adopted at the informal maritime ministerial meeting held in Opatija, Croatia, on 11 March (see EUROPE 12444/2).
The Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, said that the strategy for intelligent mobility, which the Commission intends to present by the end of the year, will be “covering waterborne transport and providing guidelines for the implementation of a decarbonisation of the European maritime sector”.
Furthermore, the adoption of these conclusions on the maritime sector was an opportunity for the EU Council to praise the work done during the crisis by “seafarers, inland navigation workers and port workers in keeping the supply chains open”.
In this regard, the European Transport Ministers, meeting by videoconference on Thursday 4 June (see EUROPE 12500/2), had expressed, among other things, the need for international coordination to resolve the problem of crew changes and to allow EU seafarers to return home after the end of their contracts (see EUROPE 12465/7). (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)