5 November · EU ETS
Eight offshore shipping bodies ask the EU to pause ETS rules due in January
IMCA, EUDA and the shipowners’ associations of Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Denmark and Sweden wrote jointly to MEPs and member states asking for the EU ETS obligations that take effect on 1 January 2027 for offshore vessels above 5,000 gross tonnes to be overhauled or suspended. They want compliance postponed until a revised MRV framework is implemented and tested, loopholes closed where operators bring in vessels from non-EU ports that levy no penalties, and clear definitions separating offshore activities from transport.
The letter argues the reporting rules were built for point-to-point shipping rather than project-based work such as installation, dredging and subsea construction, calls the MRV framework “widely recognised as not fit for purpose”, and warns of carbon leakage as activity moves outside the EU. The coalition says it is not seeking an exemption from carbon pricing.
Maritime Journal
4 November · EU ETS
T&E wants EU industrial funds opened to shipping e-fuels
Transport & Environment is pressing for shipping to be admitted to the €30bn Investment Booster for industrial decarbonisation projects in 2027–2030, and to the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank from 2031; the Commission’s proposal excludes shipping from both. It also wants the Modernisation Fund to support e-fuels in lower-income member states.
Of the 110 million allowances the Commission proposes for SMAP across 2028–2040, T&E wants about 70%, or 76 million, reserved for e-fuels, including 30.5 million for e-fuels produced in the EU. It proposes an intermediary that buys e-fuels from producers on long-term contracts and resells to shipowners, airlines and fuel suppliers on shorter ones, with double-sided auctions covering the price gap, running by 2028.
ENGINE
26 October · EU ETS
European shipowners restate their asks as Council and Parliament negotiate
ECSA wants the Sustainable Maritime Fuels and Technologies envelope tripled from 110 to 330 million allowances, arguing the Commission’s figure covers about a third of the need against roughly €9bn of annual ETS revenue from shipping. Its other positions:
- Extend eligibility to all technologies that deliver carbon savings, energy efficiency included.
- Allow companies to apply for support in advance, so part of the price gap is known to be covered before they invest.
- Favour EU production through bonus points rather than made-in-Europe requirements.
- Apply only the new rules to offshore vessels, instead of switching systems between 2027–2030 and 2031.
- Keep, extend and update derogations for islands, outermost regions, ice-class vessels and transnational public services.
- Simplify the MRV Regulation to align EU ETS, MRV and FuelEU Maritime reporting.
- Replace the transhipment exemption with an annual Commission report on port competitiveness and infrastructure needs.
ECSA