Brussels ignores the request of Spain and 8 European countries to correct the_CO2 standards of cargo ships

The European Commission said on Thursday that it is “closely” monitoring the impact that the application of CO2 taxes to maritime transport through the ETS system could have, which nine countries, including Spain, fear will relocate freight traffic from European ports to more lax jurisdictions.

Spain and eight other EU countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Spain, Malta, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Romania) today called on the new government to take immediate and bold measures to modify the way in which the European carbon tax is applied to the maritime sector. “We cannot simply do studies, we must act boldly,” said Malta’s Transport Minister Chris Bonett, in line with his Cypriot counterpart, Alexis Vafeades, who called for “solidarity between member states, to act preventively, adopting a rapid revision of the directive with a ports strategy”. Vessels covering routes within the European Union must pay 100% of the CO₂ emitted, according to the market price projected by the Emissions Trading System (ETS), and those arriving in the EU from other jurisdictions must pay 50%. The countries calling for a review fear that carriers will move their operations to non-EU ports in Algeria, Morocco or the United Kingdom, as well as to Norway and Iceland or even to ports in Russia, if one day the geopolitical situation changes. A cargo ship travelling from Shanghai to Algeciras travels around 10,300 nautical miles and would have to pay 50% of the CO₂ it emits.

Continue reading news in EuroEFE