Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. First progress report on the implementation of the Commission Staff Working Paper ‘Pollutant emission reduction from maritime transport and the sustainable waterborne transport toolbox’

In September 2011, the Commission presented the staff working paper "Pollutant emission reduction from maritime transport and the Sustainable Waterborne Transport Toolbox". This document, referred to as the "Toolbox", accompanied the proposal for an amendment to Directive 1999/32/EC of 26 April 1999, transposing the 2008 International Maritime Organization (IMO) standards on the maximum level of sulphur permitted for fuels used in the shipping sector.

The Toolbox proposed a number of short-term accompanying measures, under the current financial perspective, to reduce compliance costs in relation to the new low sulphur standards. It also proposed a set of medium and longer-term accompanying measures aimed at addressing the environmental challenges confronting the EU shipping sector from a broader perspective and in a more integrated manner.

This first Progress Report covers the period from September 2011 to January 2013 and presents the current state of implementation of the measures set out in the toolbox and puts forward proposals for closer cooperation between the Commission, Member States and industry stakeholders to manage the implementation of the measures and provides a means for developing additional measures where appropriate.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)475: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:475:FIN

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