EN
29.9.2023
Official Journal of the European Union
C 349/45
Taxation of traditional fuels 3.13.
As a new structure will prove to be an exercise in economic risk for EU vessel owners, the EESC calls for policies to be adopted that will offer them legal certainty.
It is therefore vital to delay the introduction of new taxes on traditional fishing fuel (diesel) until new propulsion and fuel technologies are commercially available and until the legislative frameworks for the necessary renovations are fully in place, otherwise the sector could suffer.
Energy Transition Partnership for EU Fisheries and Aquaculture 3.14.
The sector has no guidelines, either from technology providers or policymakers, on what direction it should take for decarbonisation.
The EESC therefore welcomes the Commission’s initiative to set up an expert group to provide advice on the various alternatives available, future developments, market developments, etc. It is particularly important to identify the technologies that will work best for each fleet segment and region, and it may be necessary to combine different energy sources.
In addition, it would be useful to carry out information and awareness-raising campaigns on the sea-industry chain in order to incentivise decarbonisation.
The blue economy 3.15.
The blue economy encompasses all economic activities that depend on the sea.
The various sectors that make up the blue economy are interdependent (fisheries, biotechnology, seafaring, maritime transport, aquaculture, shipyards, supply chains, logistics and transport), as they are based on common competences and shared infrastructure (ports, logistics networks and electricity distribution), and on the sustainable use of marine resources.
The EESC stresses the need to implement a holistic decarbonisation strategy and to find synergies between the various links in the chain.
Furthermore, the EESC calls for adequate human resources and skills in order to design, build and operate modern vessels.
It is imperative to attract skilled labour.
4.
Specific comments
Advanced fuels 4.1.
The EESC highlights the potential that advanced fuels not produced from food and feed crops offer in terms of the circular economy, the fight against coastal rural depopulation and, of course, the strengthening of the EU’s energy independence.
In line with the EU’s CO2 neutrality targets, the net CO2 emissions of such alternative fuels when they are burnt in engines can fall to zero if they are produced with renewable electricity.
4.2.
For various reasons, the Commission limits the use of plant-based biofuels, which the EESC has welcomed in various opinions.
However, there is no clear strategy for the development and introduction of alternative fuels, which would be important not only for the fisheries sector but also for other industries.
There is also a lack of prioritisation as to which of the hard-to-decarbonise sectors (of which fisheries is one) should have priority access to such fuels.
This complicates the fisheries sector’s efforts to advance decarbonisation as quickly as possible.
The EESC points out that renewable, low-carbon fuels are a common sense option on the path towards decarbonising sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as fisheries.
Advanced alternative fuels that are not produced from food and feed crops will be more expensive, due to their scarcity and more complex technology.
As previously pointed out by the EESC (9), for this to happen, the price gap between fossil and alternative fuels needs to be bridged and cleaner fuels need to become more affordable and widely available.
4.3.
The EESC points out that current biodiesels come from crops (palm oil, rapeseed, soybean and sunflower) which do not ensure full decarbonisation; furthermore, there is not enough raw material.
The solution (not yet available) would be to mix existing diesel with increasing amounts of electro-diesel, a synthetic fuel made of green electrolytic hydrogen and captured CO2.
These e-fuels are produced from carbon dioxide that has previously been captured from the atmosphere or from industrial processes that produce CO2, before it is released.
(9)
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport and amending Directive 2009/16/EC’ (COM(2021) 562 final — 2021/0210 (COD)) (OJ C 152, 6.4.2022, p. 145).