The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Mr. Yannis Karousos and the Deputy Minister of Shipping Mr. Vassilis Dimitriades, accompanied by officials, are in Brussels since yesterday, where they are holding a series of contacts with MEPs and officials of the European Commission. The subject of the meetings is the new EU "Fit for 55" legislative package under discussion, which aims to make the EU the first climate neutral continent by 2050.
In the margins of their meetings, Mr. Karousos and Mr. Dimitriadis made statements regarding the content of their meetings.
In his statements, the Minister of Transport said that "the visit to Brussels was planned to have a series of contacts with officials of the European Parliament and representatives of the European Commission on issues related to the "Fit for 55" legislative package and the promotion of specific initiatives and concerns of Cyprus". In particular, the Minister said, "we had the opportunity to promote our own initiatives to the Council, such as the "Self-allowance mechanism" proposal, which aims to give incentives to airlines to use more biofuel in a shorter period of time and at a lower cost".
Referring to the legislative proposals of the "Fit for 55" package, Mr Karousos explained that Cyprus has carried out an analysis on how these proposals will affect aviation, the economy of our country and the rest of the EU Member States, which is now used as a reference point. After pointing out that Cyprus may "face a competitive disadvantage as the cost of a flight to Cyprus by 2035 will be much higher compared to third countries such as Egypt and Turkey", Karousosos explained that "the measures that will come into force in 2025 are estimated to have a cost to airlines of $220 million per year, while in 2030 the cost will reach $520 million. And it is estimated that in 2035 the total cost will reach $821 million," he added. Therefore, the Transport Minister said that "from 2035, airlines operating routes to Cyprus will have a cost of about 800 million euros which will be passed on to passengers, with negative consequences for tourism and the economy". "Based on calculations," he added, "on this basis and if our concerns are not taken into account, it is estimated that Cyprus will lose about 15-20% of tourism and there will be a reduction of 1.7% in the country's GDP per year, while by the time the climate neutrality target is reached in 2050, airlines will incur costs of $18 billion."
In conclusion, the Transport Minister noted that "contacts will continue in the European Parliament and at ministerial level, as important sectors of the economy, such as tourism, are affected."
The Deputy Minister of Shipping, in his own remarks, said that the State Department of Maritime Affairs has undertaken an assessment of the impact of the implementation of the "Fit for 55" package on maritime transport. Noting that "shipping is the second most important sector for the Cypriot economy after tourism, Demetriades stressed that "although we understand that shipping must contribute to the reduction of pollutant emissions and to the EU's efforts to combat climate change", however "we have assessed through the analysis that the impact of the proposals, as presented by the European Commission, will be disproportionate for Cyprus". He added: "As you know, all trade inputs to Cyprus - all goods - are transported by sea, and it is estimated that the cost of maritime transport will increase by around 25% by 2032. Therefore, in our contacts both with MEPs, coordinators and rapporteurs of the relevant legislative proposals, as well as with representatives of the European Commission, we highlight the specificities of Cyprus as an island state and make suggestions for their improvement, especially on the issue of pollutant trading allocation," he pointed out.
In this context, Demetriades explained that in the shipping sector the cost of pollutant trading allocation can "be calculated in a way that will allow us to limit any negative impacts that appear to arise". At the same time, he pointed out that "we ask that the mechanism for collecting allowances should change its philosophy and be based on the flag state of the ship when it comes to ships flying the flag of an EU Member State and not the port state of the port of call, while he explained that "we ask that responsibility should also be allocated to the commercial manager who in many cases decides on the purchase of fuel and the way the ship is operated". "We are also calling for a separate fund for shipping so that the proceeds from maritime transport can be used to finance research projects aimed at finding and making available alternative non-fossil fuels to the shipping industry, which will lead to the carbonisation of the sector," he said.
(MF/MB/EXP)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
Source[/P]
