During a meeting at Cyprus, the shipping ministers of Greece, Malta and Cyprus agreed that EU has to reduce bureaucracy in the shipping industry, in order to provide a boost to the sector.
As the ministers said, the sector provides 2.1 million jobs and 142 billion euros to Europe’s economy.
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Namely, Panagiotis Kouroumplis, noted that EU has to find new ways to make shipping industry more attractive, as well as more competitive. He explained that with the current bureaucratic situation, the sector has a significant disadvantage.
From his side, the Maltese transport minister, Ian Borg, mentioned that there is work happening to examine today’s EU directives that create the administrative burden on issues such as the mutual recognition of seafarers’ qualifications.
Finally, Natasa Pilides, Cyprus’s Deputy Minister for Shipping Natasa Pilides, informed that the three ministers said discussed about possible measures to enhance cooperation and solve issues like pollution.
Last week, the European Commission adopted a proposal to optimize ship reporting requirements when calling at ports within the EU. Earlier this year, 13 EU Member States called the EU Commission to present an ambitious proposal for the revision of the Reporting Formalities Directive. The aim is to reduce the administrative burdens on shipping and align the industry with the digital age.