Piloting the way to clean oceans - Violeta Bulc and Karmenu Vella - Main contents

Whether you work in shipping or fishing, or whether you work in tourism or with new offshore technologies, we all depend on oceans. Our oceans are home to an astounding array of species - which make our planet so special. They supply half of the oxygen we need to live, they regulate climate change, they provide food and they are essential to the livelihoods of many around the world - particularly those living in island nations such as Malta.

It makes sense then that the EU’s priorities for maritime transport policy until 2020 were drafted here in Malta and can be found in the Valletta Declaration of 2017. The declaration prioritises competitiveness, decarbonisation, digitalisation for connectivity, an efficient internal market and creating a world-class maritime cluster. It continues to guide our thinking. Malta’s economy depends on sea and air connections to the rest of the world, and we appreciate how this influences the identity of Maltese citizens. And we understand that this also creates challenges, particularly as Europe seeks to simultaneously decarbonise and digitalise its transport systems.

Transitioning to more sustainable and clean transport takes time and effort. But we have no choice if we are to preserve our planet for future generations - to save the very seas on which Malta depends. The Commission has signed off on a grant of €1.9 million for a safer ships project in Malta.

We want to encourage ships to deliver waste generated at sea to ports

And we have proposed and moved forward with two initiatives of particular relevance to Malta: a proposal on a Single Maritime Window to speed up reporting times for ships, and another for Port Reception Facilities, on the delivery and processing of waste from ships, as marine litter is a grave threat to our ocean’s health.

The Single Maritime Window will significantly reduce the administrative burden on the maritime sector, boosting competitiveness. The new law, which just needs final approval by the European Parliament and ministers, will improve interoperability between economic operators and authorities, and facilitate data exchange.

With specialised port reception facilities, we want to encourage ships to deliver waste generated at sea to ports, using a mix of incentives and enforcement to encourage proactivity. Part of the EU’s strategy to reduce plastic waste, the initiative tackles marine litter head-on, while proposing innovative business models to make our economy more circular and sustainable. Ministers are due to vote on the proposal later this year.

Sustainability and competitiveness are not conflicting terms, in effect they are two sides of the same coin. Greening our transport is a must for meeting our climate targets and for making the air we breathe cleaner. And it is an opportunity for innovation, which drives competitiveness.

With these and other European Commission proposals, we seek to give Malta and other EU countries the tools they need to champion green growth - and indeed blue growth. Malta has our full support as it continues to walk this path.

Violeta Bulc is EU Commissioner for Transport and Karmenu Vella EU Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

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This article was published in Times of Malta, on Sunday, March 31, 2019.