EU, South Korea boost discussions on Free Trade Agreement

On 6 December, the EU and South Korea discussed the South Korean shipping and shipbuilding state subsidies measures in the context of the EU – South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) implementation.

SEA Europe (the European Shipyards and Maritime Equipment Association) and ECSA expressed their satisfaction of these discussions, as European shipbuilding and maritime equipment industry and European shipowners, need a global level playing field and benefit from fair trade and competition as well as...

https://safety4sea.com/eu-south-korea-boost-discussions-on-free-trade-agreement/

First non-European ship recycling facilities join EU list

The European Commission published its 4th version of European List of ship recycling facilities, which includes six new yards. In these we find the first yards outside the EU which were approved. Namely, 2 are in Turkey and 1 is in the US.

Namely, according to the new EU regulation, entering into force on 31st December 2018, all ships flying a European flag are to be recycled in a facility which is included in the European list.

As far as the three new yards in Turkey and USA are concerned, they...

https://safety4sea.com/first-non-european-ship-recycling-facilities-join-eu-list/

New project launched to meet future skills for the maritime sector

European Commission publicly announced its plan of co-financing the project “SkillSea, Futureproof Skills for the Maritime transport sector” in a ceremony. The project aspires to develop a pattern on identifying and meeting the future skills needs of maritime sector and to also lure Europeans to work in maritime industries.

European Commission’s project will start in January 2019. The SkillSea project, will be co-financed under Erasmus+ with the aim of producing a sustainable skills strategy for...

https://safety4sea.com/new-project-launched-to-meet-future-skills-for-the-maritime-sector/

European Parliament supports uptake of alternative fuels

On 25 October, the European Parliament adopted its report on ‘The deployment of infrastructure for alternative fuels in the EU’, revealing that taxation has a major impact on the price competitiveness of alternative fuels and underlining the need to address disparities in energy taxation for shore-side supply for ships and energy used to generate alternative fuels.

The report also underlined that a technology neutral approach should be adopted to create a level playing field and called on the...

https://safety4sea.com/european-parliament-supports-uptake-of-alternative-fuels/

European shipowners welcome EU-Singapore trade agreement

European shipowners are pleased with the signature of the EU-Singapore trade agreement, as it represents EU and Singapore’s ‘commitment to free, fair and rules-based trade at a time that protectionism is on the rise’.

The EU and Singapore agreement was signed during last week’s Asia-Europe summit and contains the liberalisation principles of international maritime transport services.

The EU-Singapore trade and investment agreements are the first trade and investment agreements signed between the...

https://safety4sea.com/european-shipowners-welcome-eu-singapore-trade-agreement/

European shippers against Far East’s trade practices

Sea Europe – ECSA joint press release:

European Shipowners and Maritime Technology Industry call for decisive actions against unfair trade practices and in favour of global playing field

SEA Europe and ECSA, the trade associations representing respectively European shipbuilding and maritime equipment and European shipowners, welcome the recent statement of EU Trade Commission Cecilia Malmström against unfair trade practices in the Far East. SEA Europe and ECSA now call upon the European...

http://container-news.com/european-shippers-against-far-east-trade-practices/

ECSA, SEA Europe call for action against unfair trade practices

SEA Europe and ECSA, the trade associations representing respectively European shipbuilding and maritime equipment and European shipowners, welcomed the recent statement of EU Trade Commission Cecilia Malmström against unfair trade practices in the Far East.

The associations further called upon the European Commission and the EU Member States to take concrete and decisive actions against such practices and in favour of a true global level playing field for the European industry.

They noted that ma...

https://safety4sea.com/ecsa-sea-europe-call-for-action-against-unfair-trade-practices/