The EU’s Directive on pollution from ships and the introduction of sanctions for illegal pollution are to be revised. It is part of the Commission’s overall plan for sustainable shipping. The overarching goal is zero emissions, zero pollution, and zero accidents.

For Danish Shipping, it is crucial to address illegal pollution. It is also crucial that European and international regulations are not contradictory. These elements are taken into account in the revision of the directive, which is welcomed by Danish Shipping and MEP Bergur Løkke Rasmussen from Moderaterne, who has been involved in negotiating the agreement.

The Council and the European Parliament have now agreed to adapt the directive to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). At the same time, the directive’s scope is expanded to include more types of polluting substances discharged into the sea, such as wastewater and waste.

The European Parliament managed to ensure a commitment for the EU to review the rules five years after their implementation in national legislation to assess whether plastic waste in the sea, loss of containers, and spillage of plastic pellets from ships should also be penalized.

We all need to do better to protect the environment, and this is a good step in the green direction

Bergur Løkke Rasmussen, Member of the European Parliament for Moderaterne

“I am pleased that as the negotiator for the Renew Group on the directive on pollution from ships, I have contributed to ensuring that Europe now has a strengthened legal framework to identify and penalize ship pollution. We all need to do better to protect the environment, and this is a good step in the green direction. Additionally, I am pleased that the Commission will now explore opportunities to improve satellite monitoring of container loss, so they don’t just float around in the sea,” says Bergur Løkke Rasmussen, Member of the European Parliament for Moderaterne.

Danish Shipping supports the purpose of the directive to incorporate international standards on pollution from ships into EU legislation and ensure that violations are subject to effective sanctions.

“The new measures strengthen the directive, particularly in terms of effective enforcement and sanctions, and contribute to pollution prevention. For us at Danish Shipping, it is also crucial that efforts have been made to ensure that concepts and content align with international rules in the MARPOL Convention and the Convention of the Law of the Sea, so that conflicting regulations do not arise. Thus, EU rules can support equal shipping conditions in­ter­na­tio­nal­ly, so that the com­pe­ti­ti­ve­ness of European shipping is not diminished,” says Nina Porst, Director of Climate, Environment, and Safety at Danish Shipping.

The political agreement must now be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.