From:
@seaeurope.eu>
Sent:
jeudi 15 avril 2021 15:33
To:
EC PRESIDENT VDL
Cc:
CAB VESTAGER CONTACT; CAB TIMMERMANS CONTACT; CAB DOMBROVSKIS
CONTACT; CAB BRETON CONTACT; CAB VALEAN CONTACT
Subject:
RE: Joint letter from the Waterborne sector: The European Commission
should give stronger consideration to the waterborne sector due to its crucial
role for Europe's policies
Attachments:
Joint letter_Waterborne sector.pdf
Importance:
High
Dear President of the European Commission,
Dear Mrs von der Leyen,
On behalf of the maritime sector, represented by the signatories to the attached letter, I would like to
refer again to this joint letter expressing the maritime sector’s willingness to have a close dialogue with
your services on a number of matters that are of particular relevance to our sector. Unless I am
mistaken, I do not seem to have seen a response to the attached letter yet.
Whilst we all fully appreciate the enormous challenges faced by the European Commission, we are also
awareness that your services want to move ahead quickly with issues such as the green taxonomy, the
European Green Deal, TEN-T, etc. We all believe that it would be beneficial, also for the European
Commission, if we could discuss these (enclosed) matters and challenges soonest.
I would like to thank you in advance for your understanding.
Yours sincerely
On behalf of the maritime sector,
Rue de la Loi, 67 (4th floor)
1000 Brussels, Belgium
@seaeurope.eu
www.seaeurope.eu
From:
Sent: Monday, 8 March 2021 13:43
To:
@ec.europa.eu
Cc:
@ec.europa.eu;
@ec.europa.eu;
@ec.europa.eu;
@ec.europa.eu;
@ec.europa.eu
Subject: Joint letter from the Waterborne sector: The European Commission should give stronger
consideration to the waterborne sector due to its crucial role for Europe's policies
Importance: High
Cc: Executive Vice Presidents: Vestager, Timmermans and Dombrovskis
Commissioners: Valean and Breton
Dear President of the European Commission,
Dear Mrs von der Leyen,
The waterborne sector in Europe is a
strategic sector for Europe in many aspects, not least as a
key
enabler for the achievement of the European Green Deal. The sector is diversified, with a wide variety
of subsectors, and a major part of the EU Blue Economy.
In the attached joint letter, you will read that the waterborne sector is going through a very difficult
economic period due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the waterborne sector is
facing more structural distortions of the level playing field by market interventions by non-EU
governments.
Hence, the waterborne sector is calling upon the European Commission to adopt policy
actions in support of the sector’s survival, resilience, and future growth soonest.
At the same time, you will read from the attached joint letter that
the waterborne sector is willing and
ready to contribute constructively to help the European Commission to achieve its ambitious policies,
such as the European Green Deal. But
to that end the stakeholders from the waterborne sector need
to be able to be involved and participate actively in the relevant fora.
For this reason, the present signatories call upon you to consider positively the following two concrete
requests:
1. Establish a dedicated waterborne forum, in which stakeholders from the waterborne sector can
discuss waterborne-related challenges, needs and opportunities with the relevant European
Commission cabinets and services in a regular and structured manner.
2. Consider, together with the waterborne stakeholders, ways to improve coordination amongst
the various European Commission services with regard to waterborne-related matters. To
date, there are many Directorate Generals competent for the waterborne sector and this
fragmentation may result in conflicting or contradicting EU policies.
The present signatories remain at your and your services’ disposal to discuss the content of the attached
letter and the afore-mentioned two concrete points.
Yours sincerely
On behalf of the waterborne stakeholders, mentioned in the attached joint letter.
@seaeurope.eu
Ref. Ares(2021)2576188 - 16/04/2021
The European Commission should give stronger consideration to the waterborne sector1,
due to its crucial role for Europe’s economic recovery, strategic autonomy and
climate policies
Brussels, 8 March 2021
1. INTRODUCTION
Oceans and seas cover 71% of the Earth's surface, contain 97% of the Earth's water, and are therefore
key to mankind and to life on Earth.
Europe is the most waterborne of all continents. It has more sea than landmass, one of the longest
coastlines in the world, and almost half of its population living and working in coastal regions.
As an export-oriented continent, Europe depends very much on maritime transport2: 76% of the EU’s
external trade and 32% of the EU’s internal trade are carried by sea, whilst EU shipping represents
39.5% of the world fleet. Europe’s seaports are essential gateways both to international trade and to
the EU’s markets and are crucial players for the supply of energy, food, and commodities in Europe.
Europe has over 40,000 km of navigable inland waterways, connecting hundreds of cities and
industrial regions in Europe, 250 inland ports and more than 300 TEN-T seaports. For Europe, inland
waterway transport3 is an important sustainable mode of transport for the carriage of goods and
passengers, with the major share of inland waterways’ freight passing through Europe’s maritime
ports.
The waterborne sector is very important for Europe in many aspects: it offers Europe access to seas,
trade and the Blue economy; it is instrumental for Europe’s strategic autonomy; and it develops very
innovative waterborne and port solutions – most (if not all) of them are ‘
Made in Europe’ or “
Deployed
in Europe first” –, which are or will be instrumental to achieve ambitions, such as the European Green
Deal. For Europe’s Mobility Policy, waterborne transport is an important mode of transport, as it offers
1 For the purpose of this note, “
waterborne transport” means maritime and inland waterways transport, whilst the “
waterborne sector”
encompasses all stakeholders active in the waterborne industry, including ports and port stakeholders and waterborne transport.
2 DG MOVE website: Maritime | Mobility and Transport (europa.eu): “
For Europe, maritime transport has been a catalyst for economic
development and prosperity throughout its history. Maritime transport enables trade and contacts between all European nations. It ensures
the security of supply of energy, food and commodities and provides the main vehicle for European imports and exports to the rest of the
world”. 3 DG MOVE website: Inland waterways | Mobility and Transport (europa.eu):
“Inland waterway transport plays an important role for the
transport of goods in Europe … connects hundreds of cities and industrial regions. 13 Member States have an interconnected waterway
network. … Compared to other modes of transport … inland waterway transport is characterised by its reliability, energy efficiency and major
capacity for increased exploitation … Inland waterway transport is a competitive alternative to road and rail transport. In particular, it offers
an environment-friendly alternative in terms of both energy consumption and noise emissions … it contributes to decongesting overloaded
road networks in densely populated regions”.
a sustainable alternative to cargo and passenger transport by congested roads or air4, and connects
Europe’s (remote) coastal regions and islands.
2. WATERBORNE: A STRATEGIC SECTOR FOR EUROPE AND A KEY ENABLER FOR EUROPE’S CLIMATE POLICIES
The waterborne sector in Europe is
a diversified sector with a wide variety of subsectors, such as
shipping, port authorities, private port companies and terminals, port service providers, shipyards,
maritime equipment manufacturers, dredgers, inland waterway transport, inland ports, yachts, travel
and tourism (cruising and ferries). Several of them are
global leaders: e.g., shipyards in complex
shipbuilding (such as cruise ships); maritime equipment manufacturers; specific segments of deep-sea
shipping; offshore service vessels for offshore renewable energy; dredgers in worldwide open
dredging markets).
The waterborne sector is
a major part of the EU Blue Economy, which directly employed close to 5
million people, generated around €750 billion in turnover and €218 billion in gross value added in
2018. The sector is an
economically important for added value and job creation in Europe’s coastal
regions and alongside Europe’s interconnected waterway network, but also offers skilled,
remunerative industrial employment, and generates important economic multipliers.
Finally, the waterborne sector is
strategic for Europe’s defence, security and strategic autonomy, for
Europe’s access to sea, trade and the Blue Economy, and for enabling Europe to achieve its ambitious
climate and other policies (e.g., digitalisation and mobility).
3. WITHOUT TAILOR-MADE POLICIES, EUROPE’S GLOBAL WATERBORNE LEADERSHIP IS AT RISK
With Covid-19, many subsectors of Europe’s waterborne sector have been severely impacted (e.g.,
passenger shipping and shipbuilding). This impact has come on top of the sector’s challenges with
energy transition and with severe competitive and trade distortions. These distortions result from EU
internal competition from land modes and from foreign countries or foreign subsidies. The effects of
foreign distortions, from which the sector was suffering from before the Covid-19 outbreak, should
not be underestimated as they often directly target or put at risk Europe’s global waterborne
leadership (e.g., “
Made in China 2025” or “
Belt and Road Initiative”).
Without concrete (sectoral) policies in support of Europe’s waterborne sector, Europe runs a serious
risk of losing its (remaining) global waterborne leadership. It would then become dependent on
foreign nations, foreign investors (e.g., for new alternative marine fuels and innovation) and/or
foreign direct investments, also for realizing its European Green Deal ambitions for the waterborne
sector. However, Covid-19 has clearly shown that there are serious risks for Europe in being
dependent on foreign interests. This is certainly valid for the strategic waterborne sector.
Tailor-made EU policies in support of the survival and future growth of the waterborne sector will not
only be
beneficial for the sector itself. The
sustainability of the waterborne sector is also vital to the
livelihoods of millions of European citizens and some of Europe’s most fragile communities. But
tailor-made EU policies will also
help the EU in preserving its global competitiveness and global
waterborne leadership, in realising its own policies (e.g., on sustainability and mobility) and in
avoiding that it becomes a puppet on a foreign string.
4
More than 410 million passengers onboard cruises and ferries embarked and disembarked in EU ports in 2018 … In 2018, the total weight
of goods transported to/from the main EU ports by short sea shipping (excludes the movement of cargo across oceans, deep sea shipping)
was 1.8 billion tonnes (Source: 2020 Blue Economy report, DG MARE).
4. ASSOCIATING THE WATERBORNE SECTOR TO EUROPE’S POLICY-MAKING
Despite its strategic role and economic importance for Europe,
the waterborne sector is insufficiently
recognised as a true interlocutor and is often not associated to EU policymaking via the relevant
fora or discussions, even though the sector is willing and ready to contribute constructively to
enabling the EU to secure its open (maritime) strategic autonomy and to achieve its ambitious climate
and other policies, in particular the European Green Deal. For instance, shipyards in Europe are ready
to build innovate zero-emission ships or to retrofit existing ships into climate-friendly vessels;
maritime equipment manufacturers are keen to produce zero-emission equipment, systems and
technologies; owners of seagoing vessels, complex ships or inland barges are ready to invest in zero-
emission vessels; and seaport, inland ports and other port stakeholders are willing to invest in zero-
emission port infrastructure.
By not associating the waterborne stakeholders to EU policymaking, the EU misses the opportunity to
take full benefit from the waterborne sector’s knowledge and expertise and its solution-oriented,
innovative and constructive contributions that could enrich the EU’s policies and overall political
strategies.
For these reasons, the present signatories call on Europe’s leaders to:
•
Recognize the waterborne sector as a strategic sector for Europe, by establishing concrete
(sectoral) policies in support of the sector’s survival and future growth.
•
Ensure that the waterborne sector is appropriately recognised as a strategic sector in the
“Automotive and Mobility Industrial Ecosystem”5 with quality dialogue taking place between the
European Commission and waterborne stakeholders on a regular basis.
•
Treat the waterborne sector as a true interlocutor in policymaking (e.g., on the European Green
Deal, the Industrial Policy, “NextGenerationEU”, the Blue Economy, and the EU Mobility Policy),
by inviting the waterborne stakeholders to participate in the political reflections and discussions,
more specifically in the taxonomy discussions6 and the Industrial Forum Expert Group7.
•
Encourage EU Member States to allocate sufficient investment from the EU Recovery Fund to
generate green growth within the waterborne sector (e.g., for the development of clean fuels
and propulsion systems for the decarbonization of waterborne transport), in accordance with
the European Green Deal ambitions.
In sum, the present signatories are determined to contribute to realizing the EU’s political ambitions,
including on the European Green Deal, and to help the EU to safeguard its industrial base and strategic
(maritime) autonomy. However, to that end, the European Commission is urged to ensure a better
representation of the waterborne stakeholders in EU policymaking and in the relevant fora and
discussions, with an aim at increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the sector’s contributions to
these EU policies and at improving the quality of the upcoming EU policy measures. The present
signatories remain at your disposal to discuss the follow-up to this joint letter and to reflect on how
the waterborne sector can become a true interlocutor in EU policymaking. We are also ready to discuss
which concrete (sectoral) EU policies are needed to support the waterborne sector’s survival and
5 Even though the waterborne sector is an (industrial) ecosystem in itself, it has been inserted in the “
Automotive and Mobility Industrial
Ecosystem”, without any information on the activities in this ecosystem and without any recognition of the sector’s specificities, needs and
challenges.
6 Whilst being presented as one of the core sectors of the European Green Deal, no waterborne transport representative was selected to
participate in discussions on
sustainable financing and maritime taxonomy. It is regrettable that the European Commission did not organize
any follow up workshop before the publication of the COWI CE Delft study as only few sectors had the opportunity to present their priorities
during the first workshop. It would very welcome that the revision of the 1st Delegated Act provides more opportunity for inclusive
discussions between the EU Commission and the Waterborne sector.
7 By selecting only one of the waterborne stakeholders (IndustriAll European Trade Union) for the
Industrial Forum Expert Group, none of
the employers from the waterborne sector have been included in this key interlocutor group, despite.
future growth, not only to the benefit of the sector itself but also of Europe’s global competitiveness
and waterborne leadership and strategic autonomy.
SEA Europe
, Waterborne TP
FEPORT
, EFIP
CLIA
, IndustriALL
ETA
EUDA
CASBA
ECSA
ETF
ECG
, UNISTOCK
EBU
ESPO
ENMC
Document Outline