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CLECAT submitted today its feedback on the draft Implementing Regulation identifying neighbouring container transhipment ports, according to FuelEU Maritime. We welcome the alignment with the existing implementing Regulation under the ETS Directive, excluding the ports of Tanger Med (Morocco) and East Port Said (Egypt) from the definition of ‘port of call’.

In light of the new shipping alliances’ network structures, with some avoiding calls at EU ports, there are increased risks that these ports will see their competitiveness eroded while creating operational difficulties for inland logistics service providers, ultimately raising transport costs. While the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime are not the primary drivers of this trend, they could prompt strategic decisions to implement network hubs outside of the EU and serving some EU ports by feeder vessels.

CLECAT therefore calls on the Commission to closely monitor non-EU ports close to EU borders, some of which already have the infrastructure capacity to manage higher volume of transhipped containers. In addition, CLECAT considers that the list should be reviewed every year, as the two-year period set out in the FuelEU Maritime Directive is too long to effectively address evolving market dynamics. 

Ultimately, CLECAT calls on the Commission and EU Member States to speed up negotiations at IMO in order to agree on a series of measures to decarbonise the maritime sector at global level. We consider that ambitious global measures are an important solution to effectively decarbonise the sector while avoiding evasion strategies and carbon leakage.