CLECAT — 2025-06-13
News from Brussels
On 6 June, the European Commission adopted an Implementing Regulation identifying neighbouring container transhipment ports, under FuelEU Maritime. As anticipated, the list aligns with the ETS list of non-EU transhipment ports and excludes East Port Said (Egypt) and Tanger Med (Morocco) from the definition of a ‘port of call’.
CLECAT submitted its feedback to the draft implementing act in February, welcoming the alignment with the ETS list but warned that in light of the new shipping alliances’ network structures, with some avoiding calls at EU ports, there are increased risks that some EU ports will see their competitiveness eroded while creating operational difficulties for inland logistics service providers, ultimately raising transport costs. While the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime are not the primary drivers of this trend, they could prompt strategic decisions to implement network hubs outside of the EU and serving some EU ports by feeder vessels.
CLECAT therefore calls on the Commission to closely monitor non-EU ports close to EU borders, some of which already have the infrastructure capacity to manage higher volume of transhipped containers. In addition, CLECAT considers that the list should be reviewed every year, as the two-year period set out in the FuelEU Maritime Directive is too long to effectively address evolving market dynamics.
Finally, we call on the effective implementation of the global maritime decarbonisation measures agreed in April by the International Maritime Organisation. Ambitious global measures remain key to decarbonising the sector efficiently, while preventing evasion strategies and mitigating the risk of carbon leakage.