The Council took note of a progress report on
the proposal for a directive amending directive 1999/32/EC as
regards the sulphur content of marine fuels. The Council will
pursue its work on the text under the incoming Danish
Presidency.
- Member states in general welcomed the report and
several ministers underlined the harmful effects for human health
of emissions from shipping due to the combustion of marine fuels
with a high sulphur content, which contribute to air pollution in
the form of sulphur dioxide and particulate matter, thus also
causing acidification.
- Several member states and the Commission called for
the application of stricter fuel quality standards applicable to
SO2 Emission Control Areas (SECAs) to all territorial waters of the
EU Member States. However, some ministers pointed out that this
could lead to distortions of competition, since other non-EU
countries will not apply the same rules and therefore any SECAs
enlargement should only be done within the framework of the
IMO.
Furthermore, a number of ministers also expressed
concerns regarding the fact that adapting vessels to comply with
the new rules would imply additional costs for ship owners and
required a transitional period. Some member states also voiced
doubts on the availability of low sulphur fuels from the date of
entry into force of the directive.