On Tuesday, 7 July, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) adopted, by a very large majority (62 votes in favour, 3 against, and 13 abstentions), the draft report by Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA, Germany) that notably calls for the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to be extended to the maritime transport sector.
“In order to include maritime shipping in the Union’s emissions reduction effort, Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council [on the ETS] should be amended to cover maritime emissions”, indicates one of the compromise amendments passed.
It also calls on the Commission to adopt delegated acts to set the total quantity of emission allowances for maritime transport in relation to other sectors as well as the method for allocating allowances for maritime transport by auctioning.
Supported by all of the Parliament’s political groups except ID and ECR MEPs, this draft report concerns the proposal to amend the regulation on the monitoring, reporting, and verification of CO2 emissions from maritime transport (‘MRV’ Regulation—2015/757) so as to coordinate it with the global data collection system on ships’ fuel oil consumption that was adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2016.
In addition to extending the ETS, the document notably calls for companies to reduce their annual CO2 emissions per transport activity by an average of at least 40% by 2030 for all ships under their responsibility and for them to do so in a linear manner.
In the event that a company fails to meet its targets, the Commission is expected to impose financial sanctions that are “effective, proportionate, dissuasive and compatible with a market-based trading emission system, such as the EU ETS”, explains one of the compromise amendments passed.
Moreover, MEPs want companies to ensure that, by 2030, no ships under their responsibility emit greenhouse gases while docked.
Finally, the report also calls for the creation of an “Ocean Fund” for the 2022–2030 period in order to improve the energy efficiency of ships and to decarbonise maritime transport by supporting investment in innovative infrastructures, such as zero-emission propulsion technologies and fuels produced from renewable energy sources.
According to the report, this common fund would be financed by revenues generated by the auctioning of maritime allowances in the ETS.
The Parliament’s plenary vote is scheduled for September. If the report is adopted, negotiations with the EU Council (‘trilogues’) will be able to begin. The latter had decided its position on 25 October 2019 (see EUROPE 12357/1). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)