Following the European Commission’s presentation on 4 March of a new industrial strategy for the shipbuilding and maritime transport sector in Europe, the EU27 ministers, meeting on Monday 8 June in the ‘Transport, Energy and Telecommunications’ Council, will be asked to approve conclusions on the subject (see EUROPE 13821/4).
The document points out that the EU is a “global leader in complex, high-end shipbuilding and advanced technologies. Europe’s shipping sector is a leading provider of maritime services worldwide”.
According to the text, 97% of the world’s fleet of cruise ships is built in Europe, and cruise represents 80 % of the commercial ship order book value for European shipyards. “(This) makes cruise key to maintain and strengthen European complex shipbuilding as well as marine equipment capabilities in the European maritime cluster at large”.
But apart from the cruise sector, over 90% of the world’s shipbuilding is now done in Asia, mainly in China, South Korea and Japan, and the European sector is also suffering from unfair global competition and from third countries receiving substantial state subsidies. The Council of the EU is thus expected to express its “concern about trade distortions and unfair subsidisation from third countries affecting EU maritime industries, including cost disparities linked to energy prices, and calls for researching options to strengthening the protection of the EU maritime industrial base against unfair competition, including through existing trade defence instruments”.
It will also reportedly call for priority to be given to investment to reduce the sector’s strategic dependencies.
‘Shadow fleet’. The rising threats to maritime security and the significant risk posed by the ‘shadow fleet’ to maritime safety and security, critical maritime infrastructure and the marine environment are also highlighted in the conclusions.
The document stresses the need for the EU to strengthen its resilience, preparedness and defence capabilities, particularly in the face of hybrid threats in the maritime domain and by enhancing situational awareness.
It also stresses the importance of protecting critical maritime infrastructures and strengthening the resilience of supply chains, particularly in the face of changing geopolitical challenges.
The document also refers to the decarbonisation of maritime transport, which requires the active participation of all players in the maritime value chain, including fuel producers and suppliers, and stresses the importance of ensuring the timely availability of safe and sustainable alternative fuels, in sufficient quantities and at competitive prices.
The text stresses as well the importance of using EU ETS revenue for climate-related purposes, and calls on Member States to use the revenue generated by the inclusion of maritime transport in the EU ETS to support the sector’s energy transition, including fleet renewal, green renovation, island shipping services, alternative fuels and port energy infrastructure.
Link to the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/m72 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)