EU Bodies getting head of Themselves on CO2 reporting?

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) voiced its disappointment and concern as the European Union is about to pre-empt negotiations taking place at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the collection of data on CO2 emissions from ships, by unilaterally adopting a regional Regulation which
will apply to non-EU flag vessels, as well as ships registered in the EU. The Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the European Commission are understood to have reached an informal agreement on the text of an EU Regulation on the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of ships’ CO2 emissions, for formal adoption early next year. ICS said that the imminent adoption of a regional EU regime, which may not be compatible with whatever is agreed at IMO, will certainly complicate and perhaps jeopardise these delicate negotiations.

 Agreement at IMO will require the support of non-EU nations with which the vast majority of the global fleet is registered, including developing countries such as China and India for whom additional CO2 regulations are a politically sensitive issue. ICS added that it appreciates that the draft EU Regulation, which will not be fully implemented until 2018, contains text to the effect that the required data which shipping will have to provide can be amended by the European Commission to reflect the final outcome of any agreement at IMO.

However, it is unclear whether the Commission will truly be willing to fully realign the EU rules with the agreed international consensus, the Chamber pointed out. ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe remarked: “If the negotiations at IMO are to succeed it will be incumbent on the EU Member States to explain that they are acting in good faith and that the outcome at IMO will be the product of a genuine global consensus achieved through negotiation rather than as a result of a pre-existing unilateral regional arrangement”.