The three days of Assarmatori presence in Brussels concluded today, on the occasion of a crucial joint meeting among the Association, the Permanent Representation of Italy to the EU and the European Commission. The purpose of this meeting was to address solutions to the most urgent challenges in maritime transport and national and European ports beginning with potential solutions to address the critical issues of the ETS directive.

 

The General Secretary, Alberto Rossi, together with Dario Bazargan (Assarmatori Bruxelles Office), presented the proposals of the national maritime cluster to the European institutions. These proposals aim to safeguard traffic and investments in continental hubs, aligning with the letter recently sent by seven Member States of the EU to the Commission’s leadership. Safeguarding transshipment traffic and implementing European Marebonus were key topics discussed to prevent the slowdown of the modal shift, in addition to the renewal of the fleet with the funds generated by the ETS regime in the fruitful conversation between the Association and the Vice Permanent Representation of Italy to the EU, Ambassador Stefano Verrecchia, the Representation of the Kingdom of Belgium (incoming presidency of the EU Council), the Vice President of the European Parliament Pina Picierno, the MEPs Denis Nesci, Marco Campomenosi and Lucia Vuolo, the heads of DG MOVE and DG CLIMA and the leaders of European trade associations.

 

“We have initiated a joint process with the European Commission involving open and constructive discussions aimed at analyzing the critical issues related to the implementation of the ETS regime and identifying the most effective solutions to protect traffic in European ports – commented Alberto Rossi on the sidelines of the joint meeting with DG MOVE and DG CLIMA. We have expressed our utmost commitment to providing concrete data, as we have always done, to support the Commission’s work in assessing the impacts of the ETS. This assessment is part of the monitoring process and revision of the clauses provided for by the same directive. We are pleased that the Commission has decided to accelerate this evaluation compared to the initially expected timeline, and our meeting will align with this accelerated schedule. We found great attention to Assarmatori’s concerns also in the numerous discussions we had with the diplomatic representations of the other European member states in Brussels, starting with Belgium, which will assume the European Presidency from January 1. On the occasion of the ESPO 2023 Award in Brussels, we also noted a shared perspective with some representatives of the ports of Northern Europe, as well as with the president Zeno D’Agostino”.

 

“Even as of yesterday, on the occasion of the publication of the proposed revision of the Combined Transport Directive, we advocated for a coordinated European-level incentive for modal shift, on which the Association has been working for years, recalling the negative impacts of combined transport and the ETS regulation on the Motorways of the Sea – added Rossi – In this regard, we observe that the concerns and moratorium proposals expressed by our Association for some time, have finally received, although unfortunately belatedly, full support also from the European Short Sea Network in a statement released during our mission in Brussels. Finally, we received consistent attention from our Italian Representation in Brussels and the Commission on the criticisms of the Fleet Renewal Decree determined by the stringent criteria dictated by the EU rules on state aid for the ecological transition, reiterating the need for a revision”.