Interferry, the international association representing the ferry sector, has urged the European Union to immediately suspend the next step of the extension of the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to maritime transport. The organization requests that the obligation to surrender emission allowances be frozen at the 70% planned for 2025 and that the increase to 100% scheduled from 2026 be blocked.
The EU ETS was extended to the maritime sector effective January 1, 2024, establishing a progressive timeline: payment in 2025 of 40% of emissions produced in 2024, payment in 2026 of 70% of emissions from 2025, and payment starting in 2027 of 100% of emissions generated from 2026.
The association has specified that its request responds to the recent decision to continue exempting road transport from the ETS mechanism and to the lack of clear regulation regarding the distribution of raised funds.
Mike Corrigan, CEO of Interferry, has stated that this suspension must remain in effect as long as road transport is not included in the ETS and the raised funds are not actually assigned to maritime decarbonization. 'The EU must fulfill the promise of a level playing field and ensure that its climate policy supports, rather than financially depletes, its most innovative transport sector,' Corrigan has indicated.
Competitive disadvantage compared to road transport
Interferry has stressed that ferries are of fundamental importance to Europe, which holds more than half of the global gross tonnage of ro-ro and passenger ships operating in European waters, transporting 400 million passengers and 200 million vehicles and cargo units within the EU, which significantly relieves the road network. The association has warned that every euro increase in transport fares on ferries could lead to goods returning to the already congested European road networks.
Interferry has recalled that it supported the decarbonization process in the maritime sector and accepted the EU ETS with the understanding that the raised funds would be used for decarbonization and that road transport would be included in the system. However, on December 10, 2025, the EU Council decided to postpone the inclusion of road transport.
Johan Roos, Regulatory Affairs Director of Interferry, has denounced that this exemption for road transport creates an immediate and serious competitive disadvantage for ro-ro and passenger ferries. 'Currently, the ETS creates a negative incentive, pushing goods and passengers to return to road networks due to the higher ferry costs. This directly contrasts with the EU's long-standing policy of modal transfer from road to sea,' Roos has stated.
Funds diverted to national budgets
Interferry has also recalled that last October the International Maritime Organization (IMO) postponed for at least 12 months the adoption of a comprehensive mechanism for fixing greenhouse gas prices, a framework that should have replaced the EU ETS and would have established clear guidelines for the use of the raised funds.
'The EU ETS is taxing intra-EU ferry transport by about one billion euros a year, while we need support for the production of e-fuels and large investments in the electrification of EU ports for the benefit of electrically propelled vessels. Instead, the vast majority of these revenues are diverted to member state budgets. This approach does not promote competitiveness or cohesion and hinders the sector's ability to invest in cleaner technologies,' Roos has concluded.