The government should take action “at all competent national and European fora to change the rules” on the ETS in order to “avoid distorting dynamics of the market and safeguard strategic ports for Italy and Europe, such as that of Gioia Taurus.”
Proposed by all the majority groups, the resolution on ports was voted by the IX Commission (Transport) of the Chamber of Deputies which examines, among other things, the distorting prospects of the market determined by the new system of taxation on polluting emissions in force since next January 1st. The European Commission, as is known, is studying solutions to avoid relocation of traffic to the ports of North Africa, but the “game” is still very open. And the Italian government – together with other countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Cyprus and Croatia – is committed to avoiding sensational own goals from Brussels, while the opposition political forces at national level are also moving, starting from the Pd and M5s.
The knot to untie
The real problem, also in view of the announced implementation act which will be published by the end of the year with mitigating measures, remains above all the routes with origin and destination outside Europe, which in Gioia Tauro involve a total of 42% of containers. The Gioia terminal company itself, Mct, put it in black and white: if a container ship travels from, for example, India to Gioia Tauro (EU port) and continues towards a non-EU port (for example New York), the company shipping company will pay 50% of its Co2 emissions from India to Gioia Tauro and 50% of the Co2 emissions from Gioia Tauro to the next non-EU port (New York); on the contrary, if the shipment stops in a non-EU Mediterranean port for the transhipment of goods destined for the port of New York, it will pay 0% of its CO2 emissions from India to the non-EU Mediterranean port and 0% of emissions of Co2 from the same non-EU Mediterranean port to the next non-EU port (New York) as required by the ETS directive.
«Considering the importance of non-EU to non-EU traffic transiting through the port of Gioia Tauro – warns MCT – this would deprive the port of the main purpose of its very existence». That’s why we need to find a way out.
Read the complete article in the paper edition of Gazzetta del Sud – Reggio