Following the beginning of the European Shipping Week 2020, Oxford Economics presented the EU’s progress, reporting that the sector is under pressure due to the difficult market conditions.
Specifically, the European Shipping industry contributed €54 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the EU. Taking into account the spill over effects to other sectors of the EU economy, the total contribution stands at €149 billion.
Moreover, the EU sector directly employs 685,000 people, while considering effects on other sectors of the economy, the shipping industry supports 2 million jobs.
In comparison to 2015’s results, the European shipping industry faces many challenges due to the difficult market conditions, leading to a decline of the contribution to the EU’s GDP. As a result also the number of jobs created by the European shipping industry remains under pressure.
Martin Dorsman, ECSA’s Secretary General commented that
The current tensions between the global trading powers, the rise of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and the insecurity along the Gulf of Hormuz all contribute to difficult and uncertain market conditions.
He added that Brexit is another factor affecting the current feeling of uncertainty in the shipping sector.
Recently, ECSA published its new strategic priorities for 2019-2024, outlining ten priority areas which the European shipping industry will be focusing on. In essence:
- Climate and sustainability
- Trade
- Competitiveness
- Internal market
- Innovation & digitalisation
- Human resources
- Safety
- Legal affairs
- Taxation
- Better regulation
