Interferry is calling for an immediate halt to the further phasing-in of the EU Emissions Trading System for maritime transport.
The association wants the surrendering obligation for ferry emissions frozen at 70% in 2025, with the planned increase to 100% in 2026 put on hold.
Interferry argues that the current approach undermines the level playing field, following the EU decision to continue exempting road transport from a parallel ETS scheme and the absence of clear rules on how ETS revenues are allocated.
“This action must remain in place until road transport is also in an ETS and funds collected are actually ringfenced for maritime decarbonisation,” said Mike Corrigan, CEO of Interferry.
Key concerns raised by Interferry:
- Ferry operators face full ETS costs, while road transport remains exempt.
- ETS risks shifting freight and passengers back to already congested road networks.
- More than half of the world’s RoRo and passenger ship tonnage operates in European waters.
- EU ferries transport around 400,000,000 passengers and 200,000,000 vehicles and freight units annually.
According to Interferry, every euro increase in ferry freight rates increases the risk of modal shift back to road, directly contradicting EU transport policy objectives.
“This exemption of road transport creates a severe competitive disadvantage for RoRo and passenger ferries,” said Johan Roos, Director Regulatory Affairs at Interferry.
Interferry also points to the IMO decision in October 2025 to delay a global GHG pricing mechanism by at least 12 months. That framework was expected to replace the EU ETS and provide clarity on how revenues would be used.
Interferry estimates that the EU ETS is currently taxing intra-EU ferry transport by around €1,000,000,000 per year, while most revenues flow into national budgets rather than supporting e-fuels, port electrification or charging infrastructure for electric ferries.
The association stresses that it supports maritime decarbonisation, but only if policy measures genuinely enable investment in cleaner technologies rather than eroding the sector’s financial capacity to deliver them.
