EU commits to highly awaited industrial maritime strategy

The European Commission has revealed a long-awaited decision to create an industrial maritime strategy in order to enhance “the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of Europe’s maritime manufacturing sector”.

On September 17, 2024, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, presented the next College of Commissioners for the period 2024 – 2029.

The mission letters for the Commissioners-designate are centered around competitiveness, sustainability and digitalization.

Regarding waterborne transport, the mission letter for Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Commissioner-designate for sustainable transport and tourism, emphasized the green and digital transition of the waterborne sector as part of the European Green Deal.

“Your task will be to make European transport more competitive, more sustainable and more resistant to future shocks and to ensure transport is safe, accessible and affordable for all EU citizens. Your work will be essential in reaching our 2030 targets as part of the European Green Deal,” von der Leyen said in a mission letter to Tzitzikostas.

“You will focus on supporting industry and Member States on implementation, strengthening the single market for transport, increasing modal shift towards sustainable transport means and accelerating the roll-out of trans-European infrastructure, making the most of digital tool, new tech and innovation.”

The development of a new industrial maritime strategy and a comprehensive EU Port Strategy are on the action list for the Commissioner-designate for Sustainable Transport and Tourism.

A Sustainable Transport investment plan will also be developed, outlining a strategic approach to scaling up and prioritizing investments in transport decarbonization solutions. In addition, digitalization should continue to drive the modernization of transport systems.

The mission letters are a further detailing of the political guidelines of the new European Commission, as presented in July 2024. As a next step, Commissioners-designate appear in public hearings at the European Parliament. After that, the Commission as a whole is approved in a single vote of consent by the European Parliament. The European Council, acting by qualified majority, formally appoints the Commission’s new leadership.

New EU plans are said to be ‘specifically relevant’ for the implementation of the long-term strategy of the Waterborne Technology Platform, the European research platform for the maritime industry centered around technology leadership in waterborne.

In this definition, all segments of the European waterborne transport sector (ranging from shipyards, maritime equipment manufacturers, shipowners, research institutes and academia to public stakeholders) play a key role, and the functioning of the entire sector will be pivotal to ensure that the EU’s waterborne transport sector remains a global leader and offers quality jobs. Sustainability and digitalization are among the main topics of this long-term strategy.

“We warmly welcome the emphasis on the green and digital transition of the waterborne sector in the mission letters for the Commissioners-designate. The importance of research, development and innovation is a stimulating development, which requires a joint and coordinated approach by the waterborne ecosystem,” Eero Lehtovaara, Chair of the Board of Directors, Waterborne TP, commented.

“Furthermore, the Waterborne Technology Platform welcomes the organisation of implementation dialogues with stakeholders, to align with the developments in the sector. The emphasis on the deployment of innovations, by means of the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, as well as the much needed attention for start-ups and SMEs in the research, development and innovation ecosystem, are much welcomed. All these elements form a basis to further develop the implementation plan of our longterm strategy, i.e. our Strategic Research Agenda (SRA).”

The Shipyards’ & Maritime Equipment Association of Europe (SEA Europe) — which represents close to 100% of the European shipbuilding industry including shipyards and maritime equipment manufacturers — has welcomed the recent announcement by the European Commission.

The announcement is significant as it recognizes the crucial role of Europe’s maritime technology industry in delivering sustainable and digitalized assets for shipping, the blue economy (including strategic sectors such as offshore renewable energy,) and naval defense. This industry is a cornerstone of Europe’s strategic autonomy and economic resilience,” the association pointed out.

Earlier this year, the association called on the new European Commission to issue a ‘robust’ EU maritime industrial strategy, highlighting that such a strategy would help shipbuilders and maritime equipment manufacturers regain and secure in Europe orders from shipowners.

SEA Europe now emphasized the importance of each aspect of the EC’s announcement:

• A new strategy: The EU must not merely repurpose existing, ineffective tools but should design an innovative approach with new policy solutions, as outlined in SEA Europe’s Manifesto.
• An industrial strategy: This strategy should place the shipbuilding supply chain at the heart of the maritime economy.
• A strategy focused on manufacturing: It should prioritize Europe’s manufacturing sector to defend and promote Europe’s industrial interests and capacity amid intense competition from Asia for technology leadership and control over critical supply chains.

SEA Europe noted that while this announcement was made in the mission letter of the Commissioner- designate for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, it should encompass a broader scope, addressing maritime manufacturing, shipbuilding capacity, and technological leadership as fundamental elements of the entire maritime sector. Therefore, SEA Europe is calling for strong collaboration among Commissioners responsible for transport, industry, technology, trade, competition, and research.

Last week, a report by Mario Draghi — former European Central Bank President and one of “Europe’s great economic minds” — was published, delivering recommendations to enhance the competitiveness of the European economy.

The report found that significant investments in green transition are needed to ensure the competitiveness of shipping in Europe. Investment needs for shipping alone will be around €40 billion each year from 2031 to 2050. Scaling up the production of clean fuels and clean and innovative technologies in Europe is set as a major objective. 

European shipowners have released their position paper on a European industrial maritime strategy as part of the new Clean Industrial Deal.

“The European Maritime Industrial Strategy must be a core pillar of the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal, which President von der Leyen committed to put forward in the first 100 days of the new Commission,” European shipowners said.

In a paper released on September 16, the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) put forward recommendations to enhance the competitiveness of European shipping and of the maritime industrial cluster while delivering on the green and digital transition:

• Keep European shipping internationally competitive: maintaining a level playing field between European shipping and its non-European competitors is crucial for retaining shipping companies in Europe, and for fostering a thriving European maritime cluster. A fit-for-purpose regulatory and taxation framework is crucial to ensure that EU shipping companies remain globally competitive.
• 40% production of clean fuels for shipping in Europe: scaling up manufacturing capacity for clean shipping fuels in Europe is crucial for the green and digital transition of shipping. At least 40% of the clean fuels needed for shipping to reach its FuelEU targets should be produced in Europe, aligning with the benchmark of the Net-Zero Industry Act.
• 40% of European industrial capacity for innovative shipping technologies: Europe is a leader in state-of-the-art innovating technologies for the green and digital transition of shipping. To retain and to capitalize upon a this leadership position, Member States should swiftly implement a manufacturing benchmark of at least 40% under the Net-Zero Industry Act for key technologies.
• Ensure access to finance for key investments: enhancing access to public and private financing is crucial to unlocking the investments needed for the green and digital transition. The revenues of the EU ETS should be spent on energy transition-related activities to decarbonize shipping. Different financing and funding tools involving banking finance, capital markets and private investors are needed to enable better risk-sharing of innovative and transitional projects.
• People-centered transition: a European Maritime Industrial Strategy must acknowledge the need to invest in new skills for the green and digital transition of shipping. 800.000 seafarers need to be reskilled for the green transition by mid-2030. The Commission and the Member States must support the joint efforts of the social partners, to make our workforce future-proof.

“The Draghi report firmly recognises the global leadership of European shipping and the need to maintain its international competitiveness. This is a prerequisite for the European maritime industrial cluster to thrive. The report names shipping as one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise, requiring around 40 billion in annual investments. We strongly believe there is an opportunity to place European shipping and the whole maritime industrial cluster as a pillar of the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal,” Sotiris Raptis, ECSA Secretary General, highlighted.

“The energy transition of shipping can be the catalyst to invest in European manufacturing capacity for clean fuels and innovative technologies. We call for 40% of the clean fuels and innovative technologies we need for the green and digital transition to be manufactured in Europe, and we are ready to work with policymakers and with the maritime cluster to make this happen,” Raptis concluded.