In the light of Mario Draghi's report on strengthening the competitiveness of Europe that the last week, a document that underlines the need for safeguarding the competitiveness of European shipping, The European Shipowners' Association has today published a Position Paper for a European maritime industrial strategy to be included in the next Clean Industrial Deal that the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has committed to present in the first 100 days of the new Commission.

In its document, in order to safeguard the competitiveness of the of European maritime transport at international level, the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) highlights the need to maintain a level playing field between European shipping and non-European competitors, with a regulatory and fiscal framework adequate to ensure that shipping companies remain globally competitive.

In addition, in ECSA's view, to ensure the green transition and digital shipping needs to be increased in production capacity for clean fuels for the maritime transport, producing at least 40% of the total necessary for maritime transport to achieve the objectives of the FuelEU Maritime initiative, in line with the reference of the Net-Zero Industry Act.

In view of Europe's leadership in technologies for the green and digital transition of shipping, according to ECSA, in order to maintain and capitalise on this position, EU Member States should then swiftly implement a benchmark for the production of at least 40% of Innovative technologies for shipping within the framework of the Regulation on net-zero industry.

For ECSA, access to the public and private funding to unlock the investments for the green and digital transitions, as different financing instruments involving banks, markets and capital and private investors to enable better risk sharing of innovative and transition projects. Furthermore - the shipowners' association reiterated again - the revenues deriving from the application of the EU ETS to shipping, the EU emissions trading system, should be spent on transition-related activities to decarbonise shipping.

Finally, ECSA considers it essential that the strategy European maritime industry recognises the need for investing in new skills for the green and digital transition shipping, as the support of the Commission is needed, and Member States' joint efforts to retrain 800,000 seafarers for the green transition by mid-2030.