A ten year strategy plan for the maritime sector has been put forward by the European Commission, which aims to meet current and future global challenges. These are to ensure that the sector retains its competitiveness, whilst at the same time becoming more efficient and sustainable.

Maritime Commissioner Joe Borg welcomed the plan, calling it ‘a cornerstone of the Action Plan of the Integrated Maritime Policy which aims at strengthening competitiveness, sustainable growth and employment in the European maritime industries as a whole’.

Under the terms, the Commission has reaffirmed its commitment to propose draft legislation to cut and ultimately remove greenhouse gas emissions from the sector, should a corresponding agreement on global reductions fail to materialise later this year. This would be achieved by imposing stricter EU legislation on ship waste disposal at port facilities and by ensuring that Member States meet environmental standards in marine waters under the new marine framework directive.

This would be overseen by an EU-wide environmental management system, which would supervise improvements in the sector’s environmental performance. It would potentially also be responsible for monitoring implementation of international ship recycling measures.

80% of world trade is still transported by sea, and with the EU the world’s largest importer and second largest exporter, the shipping industry remains at the heart of the European and indeed global economy. Such an overhaul of the sector would therefore clearly have a substantial impact on the environment, whilst making improvements to short-sea shipping for example could also indirectly affect the road transport sector by reducing congestion and emissions.