Europe’s ferry industry is pressing Brussels to pause the final phase-in of the EU Emissions Trading System for maritime transport, warning that the policy risks distorting transport markets while failing to deliver the reinvestment needed to decarbonise operations.
Interferry, the global trade association representing ferry operators, has called for the surrender obligation for maritime emissions to be frozen at the 70 per cent level due to apply in 2025, rather than rising to full coverage in 2026. The group argues that the case for further escalation has weakened following the EU Council’s decision to continue exempting road transport from a parallel carbon pricing mechanism and the absence of clear rules governing the use of ETS revenues.
Mike Corrigan, CEO of Interferry, said: ‘This action must remain in place until road transport is also in an ETS and funds collected are actually ringfenced for maritime decarbonization. The EU must deliver on its promise of a level playing field and ensure its climate policy supports, rather than financially drains, its most forward-looking transport sector.’
The dispute highlights growing tensions over how Europe’s carbon pricing architecture interacts with modal competition. Ferry operators carry an estimated 400 million passengers and 200 million vehicles and freight units annually within the EU, serving island communities and short-sea trade while relieving pressure on congested road networks. Interferry warns that higher ferry costs driven by carbon compliance could reverse long-standing EU policy objectives by pushing traffic back onto roads.
‘This exemption of road transport from the EU ETS creates an immediate, severe competitive disadvantage for RoRo and passenger ferries,’ said Johan Roos, director of regulatory affairs at Interferry. ‘As it stands now, ETS creates an adverse incentive, pushing goods and passengers back onto already congested road networks due to higher ferry costs. This directly contradicts the long-standing EU policy of modal shift from road to sea.’
Ferry operators say they accepted inclusion in the scheme on the understanding that proceeds would be reinvested in maritime decarbonisation, including the production of e-fuels and the electrification of ports to support battery-powered vessels. Instead, Interferry estimates that around €1bn a year is being levied on intra-EU ferry transport under the scheme, with most of the funds flowing into national budgets.
‘The EU ETS is taxing intra-EU ferry transport by approximately one billion euros per year, while we need support for production of e-fuels and substantial investments in electrification of EU ports for the benefit of charging electric-propulsion ships,’ Roos said, adding that the current approach ‘neither promotes competitivity nor cohesion and hinders the industry’s ability to invest in cleaner technologies’.
