ECSA welcomes and applauds EU’s president-elect Ursula von der Leyen’s speech, which focused on the union’s goal for sustainability, climate challenges and digitalization, highlighting that a united Union will better-achieve its goals in collaboration with the IMO.
Following the recent crisis that the World Trade Organisation’s Appellate Body experienced, the European Parliament called ECSA to join the efforts in resolving this crisis, in favour of the shipping trade.
In the wake of two subsequent piracy attacks involving crew abductions in the Gulf of Guinea, ECSA and ICS expressed concerns about the rise of armed attacks on merchant ships in the region and underlined these attacks threaten the smooth conduct of international maritime trade.
The European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) both denounce the attack against the bulk carrier “MV BONITA” and highlight that they both closely monitor the situation.
As the European Parliament has just started its mandate and the European Commission’s College is being composed, ECSA published its new strategic priorities for 2019-2024, outlining ten priority areas which the European shipping industry will be focusing on.
ECSA recently announced that it supports the European Commission’s and Member States’ plan to launch a joint partnership towards a zero-emission waterborne transport in the framework of Horizon Europe, the EU’s future research and innovation programme.
ECSA launched an ambitious Maritime Growth plan for “Sustainable Maritime Jobs, Growth and Competitiveness”, to act as a strategic framework for a thriving EU shipping industry, a strong skills base and the development of a world-class maritime cluster.
Following the latest piracy figures from International Maritime Bureau (IMB), European shipowners expressed concerns about the escalating rate of piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea and issued a position paper urging the EU authorities to step up their measures to improve security in the area.
In a letter to the EU’s Chief Negotiator for the exit of the UK from the EU, Michel Barnier, ECSA and its member the UK Chamber of Shipping, strongly urged for a negotiated settlement that includes a transition period. The letter underlines the economic repercussions on both the EU and the UK, in case of a no-deal scenario at this late stage.
Following a report on Maritime Subsidies in OECD countries by the International Transport Forum (ITF) questioning the effectiveness of the EU state aid guidelines (SAG), ECSA noted that the SAG are a profoundly effective instrument to boost the European shipping sector in a highly competitive global environment.
