Considerations on COM(2019)38 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 in order to take appropriate account of the global data collection system for ship fuel oil consumption data - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2019)38 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 in order to take appropriate account of the global data collection system for ship fuel ... |
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| document | COM(2019)38  |
| date | February 4, 2019 |
(2) All sectors of the economy should contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in line with the commitment of the co-legislators as expressed in Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council 16 and Directive (EU) 2018/410 of the European Parliament and of the Council 17 .
(3) The European Parliament's Resolution of February 2014 on a 2030 framework for climate and energy policies called on the Commission and the Member States to set a binding Union 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% compared to 1990 levels. The European Parliament also noted that all sectors of the economy would need to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions if the Union is to deliver its fair share of global efforts.
(4) In its Conclusions of 24 October 2014, the European Council endorsed a binding Union target of an at least 40% domestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. The European Council also stated the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and risks related to fossil fuel dependency in the transport sector and invited the Commission to examine further instruments and measures for a comprehensive and technology-neutral approach, including for the promotion of emissions reduction, renewable energy sources, and energy efficiency in transport.
(5) Building on the 2011 Union White paper on transport 18 , in 2013 the Commission adopted a strategy for progressively integrating maritime emissions into the Union's policy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions 19 .
(6) In April 2015, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2015/757 on the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide emissions from maritime transport 20 (the “EU MRV Regulation”), which was complemented in 2016 with two Delegated Regulations 21 and two Implementing Regulations 22 . The aim of the EU MRV Regulation is to collect data on shipping emissions for further policymaking and to incentivise emission reductions by providing information on ships' efficiency to relevant markets. The EU MRV Regulation obliges companies to monitor, report and verify the fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and energy efficiency of their ships on voyages to and from European Economic Area (EEA) ports on an annual basis, starting from 2018. It also applies to CO2 emissions within EEA ports. The first emissions reports are due by 30 April 2019.
(7) Article 22 of the EU MRV Regulation states that the Commission will, in the event of an international agreement on a global monitoring, reporting and verification system, review the EU MRV Regulation and, if appropriate, propose amendments in order to ensure alignment with that international agreement.
(8) Under the Paris Agreement that was adopted in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 23 , the Union and its Member States have undertaken an economy-wide reduction target. Efforts to limit international maritime emissions through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) are under way and should be encouraged. The IMO adopted 24 in October 2016 a data collection system for fuel oil consumption of ships ("the global IMO DCS").
(9) Considering the co-existence of these two monitoring, reporting and verification systems, the Commission assessed pursuant to Article 22 of the EU MRV Regulation how to align the two systems so as to reduce administrative burden for ships, while preserving the objectives of the EU MRV Regulation.
(10) The impact assessment indicated that a partial alignment of the two monitoring, reporting and verification systems could contribute to reducing the administrative burden for shipping companies, while preserving the key objectives of the EU MRV Regulation. Such a partial alignment should however not modify the governance, scope, verification, transparency or CO2 reporting requirements of the EU MRV Regulation as it would severely undermine its objectives and affect its capacity to inform future policy-making decisions and to incentivise the uptake of energy efficiency measures and behaviours in shipping. Any amendments to the EU MRV Regulation should therefore limit the alignment with the global IMO DCS in relation to definitions, monitoring parameters, monitoring plans and templates.
(11) Amendments to the EU MRV Regulation should ensure that the same legal entities are responsible for monitoring during similarly calculated reporting periods where a ships activities fall under both systems. Thus definitions concerning companies and reporting periods including reporting in case of change of companies should be amended to take into account the IMO provisions.
(12) Global IMO DCS provisions on data to be monitored and reported annually should be taken into account so as to ensure that streamlined data is collected for ships' activities falling under both systems. In order to do so, the parameter 'deadweight tonnage' should be reported but 'cargo carried' should remain on a voluntary basis. 'Time at sea' should be replaced by the global IMO DCS definition of “hours underway". Finally, calculation of “distance travelled” should be based on global IMO DCS 25 to reduce administrative burden.
(13) Content of monitoring plans should be streamlined so as to take into consideration the global IMO DCS except for the parts of the plan which are necessary to ensure that only Union-related data are monitored and reported under the EU MRV Regulation. Therefore, any 'per voyage' provisions should remain as part of the monitoring plan.
(14) The deferred date of application is necessary to ensure that on-going monitoring, reporting and verification are implemented consistently for the reporting period.
(15) The objective of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 is to monitor, report and verify CO2 emissions from ships calling at EEA ports as the first step of a staged approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level. The global IMO DCS should be taken into account and this Regulation ensures the continued comparability and reliability of collected data based on a single set of requirements. The Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
(16) Regulation (EU) 2015/757 should therefore be amended accordingly.