The EU Commission presented guidelines to Member States on health-related border management measures in the context of the COVID-19 emergency, for the protection of citizens’ health, ensure the right treatment of people who do have to travel, and make sure essential goods and services remain available.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has, the European Commission launched a set of guidelines, presenting the certain provisions of the EU passenger rights legislation apply in the context of the COVID-19, notably with respect to cancellations and delays.
During their meeting on 2 April, ECSA’s Board of Directors requested governments and Brussels to take action and adopt a rescue and recovery plan concerning the maritime field, which is now coming close to collapse following the COVID-19 impacts.
In the light of COVID-19, SEA Europe, which represents close to 100% of the European shipbuilding industry in 16 nations, calls for urgent, tailor-made sectoral support to safeguard the survival of Europe’s strategic maritime technology industry.
The European Commission has prolonged for another four years the ‘Consortia Block Exemption Regulation’. The regulation outlines the conditions under which liner shipping consortia can provide joint services without infringing EU antitrust rules.
The European Commission informed that it has approved the acquisition of CMA CGM Port Terminals, based in France, and Terminal Link Holding, based in Singapore, by CMA CGM and China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPorts).
The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) reported that the offshore wind industry achieved a record of 6.1 GW installations of new capacity in 2019, bringing the overall capacity to 29 GW. It is stated that Europe remained the largest market for offshore wind, holding a 59% stake of new installation, followed by Asia-Pacific region which accounted for the remaining 41%.
In light of the adoption of the 2020 CEF Energy Work Programme today, the 2020 CEF Energy call for proposals has opened, offering funding to support projects of common interest in the energy sector, in the areas of electricity, gas, smart grids and cross-border carbon dioxide networks.
In the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission made the decision to ban non-essential travel to its 27 member nations for the next 30 days in order to limit the spread of the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General stated that Europe is now the epicenter of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to use aggressive measures, community mobilisation and social distancing to save lives, commenting “Do not just let this fire burn.”
