The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Theodoros SKYLAKAKIS (ALDE, EL) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide emissions from maritime transport and amending Regulation (EU) No 525/2013.
The committee recommended that Parliaments position in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:
MRV system a prerequisite for any market-based measure: the report stated that in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from shipping at Union level the best possible option remained implementing a market based measure, namely, pricing of the emissions or a levy, that required setting up a system for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of greenhouse gas emissions based on the fuel consumption of ships. Collecting data on such emissions was a first step of a staged approach.
Title and objective: this was amended to be a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas (rather than carbon dioxide, as stated in the Commission proposal) emissions from maritime transport and amending Regulation (EU) No 525/2013. Members made it clear that the regulation will apply to monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions and not just to carbon monoxide. 'Emissions' was defined as the release NOx as well as Co2 into the atmosphere by ships.
Scope: the committee felt that smaller ships i.e above 400 gross tons (rather than 500 tons gross as the Commission had stated) should have to comply with the requirements in the regulation, In order to ensure coherence of the Union MRV system with existing international law, in particular with MARPOL Annex VI.
Members deleted fish catching or processing ships from the list of ships excluded from the scope of the regulation.
Common principles for monitoring and reporting: monitoring and reporting should be complete and cover CO2 and NOx emissions from the combustion of fuels, while the ship is at sea as well as at berth. Companies should take account of the recommendations included in the verification reports in their consequent monitoring and reporting.
Methods for monitoring and reporting emissions: these were set out in Annex I. Members added that where an international agreement to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport was reached, the Commission should review the methods set out in Annex I and adopt delegated acts concerning amendments to that Annex in order to specify the use of flow meters for applicable combustion processes and direct emission measurements.
Content of the monitoring plan: this must include a description of the following emission sources and their associated fuel types on board of the ship as follows: (i) main engine(s); (ii) auxiliary engine(s); (iii) boiler(s); (iv) inert gas generator(s).
The plan should also include: (a)the procedures, responsibilities, formulae and data sources for determining and recording the distance travelled and the time spent when navigating through ice; (b) a revision record sheet to record all details of the revision history.
The Commission will be empowered to adopt delegated acts (rather than implementing acts) in order to determine technical rules establishing the templates for the monitoring plans.
Monitoring may be suspended during periods during which a ship was engaged in emergency situations including life-saving activities.
Monitoring on a per-voyage basis: Members added NOx and energy efficiency as determined in Annex II to the list to be monitored but deleted cargo carried and transport work.
By way of derogation, vessels exclusively operating within the scope of the Regulation and performing multiple voyages per day were exempted from monitoring emissions on a per-voyage basis.
Emission report: the ice class of the ship must be included in the report, as must the certified technical efficiency of the ship expressed by the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) where applicable to the relevant ship type.
Verification: the report stated that where the verifier had identified areas for improvement in the company's performance related to the monitoring and reporting of emissions, including in relation to achieving higher accuracy and enhancing efficiency in the monitoring and reporting, it should include in the verification report recommendations for improvement.
Publication: by 30 June each year, the Commission shall make publicly available the yearly emissions reported, respecting the confidentiality of commercial information to protect a legitimate economic interest.
Reporting: Members added that the Commission shall biennially assess the maritime transport sector's overall impact on the global climate including through non-CO2 emissions or effects, based on the emission data provided by Member States and improve that assessment by reference to scientific advancements and maritime traffic data.
Annex 1: the committee added modelling with ship movement information (AIS) and ship specific data to the methods of calculating fuel consumption. It also stated that any combination of the methods listed, approved by the verifier may be used if it enhanced the overall accuracy of the measurement.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts amending Annex I to adapt the monitoring methods to scientific and technical progress and internationally accepted standards in order to improve the reliability, validity and accuracy of the emission data.
Similarly, it should be empowered to adopt delegated acts amending Annex II to further specify and adapt the monitoring of climate-relevant information methods to scientific and technical progress.