On 2 December a jointly held EMSA-EEA workshop gathered together over 150 participants from maritime and environmental administrations, industry associations, civil society organisations and the European Commission to voice their views on the first draft of the European Maritime Transport Environmental Report as part of a consultation process which runs until 23 December.

The workshop is the opportunity for participants from a broad spectrum of perspectives to intervene at a vital stage in the production of this seminal report, where the combined input is expected to enrich the content, help to close data gaps and even possibly to inform policy makers for future decisions.

Air emissions, oil pollution, marine litter and underwater noise are some of the areas targeted by this report which is intended to give a factual view of the state of play in the EU with a global perspective, for which the report will be a stock-taking exercise providing a baseline for future discussions and decisions.

The workshop was structured around three key sessions: a presentation by both EMSA and the EEA of the draft report and its main findings; a roundtable discussion gathering feedback and thoughts from six panellists representing a wide variety of perspectives (French Ministry of Ecological Transition, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, the European Sea Ports Organisation, the European Community Shipowners’ Associations, Seas at Risk, Shipping, and Transport & Environment); and, an open discussion allowing for feedback and input from participants from member state administrations, industry and civil society.

It is hoped that this interactive dialogue will serve to stimulate and facilitate participation in the written consultation procedure which closes at the end of year. After this process, the European Maritime Transport Environmental Report will be finalised and is then expected to be published in the first half of 2021.

For any questions related to both the written stakeholder consultation and the workshop, please contact the EMTER Secretariat: emter@emsa.europa.eu