On 21 September the European Commission adopted a staff working paper entitled Pollutant Emission Reduction From Maritime Transport and The Sustainable Waterborne Transport Toolbox. The document accompanies a legal proposal to revise an EU directive related to the sulphur content of marine fuels that aligns EU law with International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements.
According to the document, compliance shall be achieved on time while minimising any possible unwanted side effects. Therefore, a number of short-term accompanying measures are being considered to seek solutions for minimising the compliance costs. Among other things it points to existing frameworks such as the TEN-T and the Marco Polo programmes and the European Investment Bank's policy and instruments in support of sustainable shipping
Moreover, the paper outlines the conditions under which member states may choose to grant investment aids, enabling companies to go beyond existing standards or assisting in the early adaptation ahead of the entry into force of the standards.
The document is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/transport/ships_proposal.htm
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