The Union of Greek Shipowners  welcomes the proposed revisions of the EU ETS Directive regarding the shipping sector. The introduced improvements in the text of the revision proposal are supported by the vast majority of the European Parliament, recording a cross-party political consensus in the votes.

The principles adopted by the ENVI Committee are fully reflected in the Plenary report. The commercial operators of the ships must be held accountable for their operational choices, as described in the adopted provisions of the principle “the polluter pays”. The European Parliament has also recognised the need for the creation of an Ocean Fund. A decision deriving from the exceptional decarbonisation requirements of the shipping sector, which are also of the highest cost among all other economic and transport sectors.

Following the result of the votes in the Plenary Session of the European Parliament, the President of the UGS, Ms. Melina Travlos, stated: “The European Parliament with its resolution sends a strong message. It demonstrates its determination to promote solutions that take into account the proposals of the shipping industry as a strategic partner of the EU”.

The shipping community calls on the EU Council to support the proper application of the “polluter pays” principle and the proposal for an Ocean Fund.

The UGS also emphasizes that the environmental principles established under Article 191 (2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should be properly applied in the FuelEU Maritime Regulation. This adopted stance dictates that both the fuel suppliers (“shared responsibility”) and the commercial ship operators are obliged to comply with the FuelEU Maritime Regulation.

Greek shipowners are fully committed to the decarbonization of the shipping sector and will continue to provide essential input to the EU shipping policy-makers to safeguard an effective and sustainable path towards this goal.