ESPO’s General Assembly unanimously elected Zeno D’Agostino as its new Chair.
Mr D’Agostino is President of Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea since 2015 and has a long-standing career in transport and logistics. He succeeds Annaleena Mäkilä who chaired the organisation during the last two years.
The General Assembly also re-elected Daan Schalck, CEO of North Sea Port as Vice Chair.
Ansis Zeltiņš, CEO of the Port of Riga, becomes the second Vice Chair.
FEPORT, ETA and ESPO, representing European ports, private port companies and terminal operators and tugowners support an effective and robust maritime EU ETS that enables the green transition of the maritime sector.
The three associations recognise and reiterate the need for the shipping sector to reduce emissions. It is for this reason that they support requirements for ships to reduce emissions, alongside requirements for the use and deployment of OPS where it makes sense in ports.
In relation to the EU ETS, they have the following three recommendations that should be taken into consideration in order to deliver an ambitious, robust, and effective emission trading system:
The three are committed to facilitating the greening of shipping and will continue to support the discussions on the maritime aspects of the Fit for 55-package in order to deliver an ambitious, coherent and workable legislative framework.
On 22 June the European Parliament adopted its position on the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS), which includes an expansion of the ETS to include shipping emissions. ESPO welcomes the EP position that outlines an ambitious and robust ETS that includes measures to address, and if possible, avoid carbon and business leakage. ESPO also welcomes that the EP position includes earmarking of revenues for investments in ports and maritime.
In order for a regional ETS in the EU to be effective and aligned with the polluter pays principle, carbon leakage through rerouting of ships outside of the ETS scope must be avoided at all costs. If this is not addressed in the final legislation, the ETS would fail to effectively reduce emissions from ships whilst also producing a negative impact on the European port business.
European ports therefore strongly support the measures adopted by European Parliament making it less attractive for ships to change their routes, divert calls, or engage in other evasive behaviours in order to avoid paying into the EU ETS.
ESPO believes that the EP position provides a good basis to address carbon and business leakage in the ETS. The preventative measures included in the EP position should be included in the final ETS to be agreed between European Parliament and EU Member States.
A meeting between ESPO and Interferry has agreed a common work programme to promote an environmentally sustainable future for the European ferry business through the provision and use of onshore power supply (OPS).
EU-wide tax exemption for electricity provided to ships at berth.
In 2020:
Maritime transport of passengers in EU ports was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing by 45.0% compared to 2019.
The total number of passengers embarked and disembarked in EU ports was 230.1 million.
Italy remained the largest maritime passenger transport country in Europe.
The top EU maritime ports embarking & disembarking passengers were:
Europe’s ports welcome that the review of the current AFIR proposal is accompanied by provisions in the new FuelEU Maritime Proposal, which requires vessels to use shore-side electricity infrastructure at berth.
The alignment of requirements between what ports need to do and the obligations for shipping lines to use the infrastructure is one of the main points of ESPO’s joint position on the maritime pillar of the proposal for an Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) and on the proposal for a FuelEU Maritime Regulation.
Europe’s ports ask for a full alignment of Article 9 of the AFIR proposal with Articles 4 and 5, as well as with Annex III of the FuelEU Maritime proposal.
ESPO’s Port Pro of the Month: Tom Hautekiet, Port of Zeebrugge
This month, Tom Hautekiet tells ESPO all about the Port of Zeebrugge.
Discover how he got into the port sector, how the Port of Zeebrugge handled the COVID-19 crisis and Brexit, and learn more about his views on the role of a port managing body and how a port can contribute to the decarbonization of the transport and logistics chain.
ESPO Says Higher Ambitions are Needed for Reducing GHG Emissions from Shipping
On 17 November, the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC75) gave preliminary approval to the compromise agreement for the package of technical and operational measures to address greenhouse gas emissions from ships in the short run.
The agreed package combines the introduction of:
ESPO, the European Sea Ports Organisation, sees the agreement as a first step.
ESPO however believes that the 2018 IMO CO2 target is possibly not ambitious enough in light of the European Green Deal objective of no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050, and the higher EU targets for 2030.
Port of Algeciras Wins ESPO Award 2020
On 10 November, the Port of Algeciras was awarded the ESPO Award 2020 in recognition of its successful strategy to attract innovation and local start-ups. Adina Vălean, EU Commissioner for Transport, announced the ESPO Award Winner during a dedicated ESPO Award Digital Ceremony.
Annaleena Mäkilä was unanimously elected as Chair following a vote of ESPO’s General Assembly in Brussels. Mrs Mäkilä has been the Managing Director, CEO of the Finnish Ports Association since 2012. She succeeds Eamonn O’Reilly, who chaired the organisation during the last four years.
