COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) 2015/757 in order to take appropriate account of the global data collection system for ship fuel oil consumption data

EN EN
EUROPEAN
COMMISSION
Brussels, 4.2.2019
SWD(2019) 10 final
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Accompanying the document
PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF
THE COUNCIL
amending Regulation (EU) 2015/757 in order to take appropriate account of the global
data collection system for ship fuel oil consumption data
{COM(2019) 38 final} - {SEC(2019) 20 final} - {SWD(2019) 11 final}
Europaudvalget 2019
KOM (2019) 0038
Offentligt
2
Contents
GLOSSARY.......................................................................................................................4
1. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................5
1.1. Policy and legal context...................................................................................6
2. PROBLEM ANALYSIS..........................................................................................11
2.1. The problem to be addressed........................................................................11
2.2. Design differences between the EU MRV Regulation and the IMO
DCS .................................................................................................................12
2.3. Most affected stakeholders ...........................................................................17
2.4. Was a fitness check carried out?..................................................................18
3. WHY SHOULD THE EU ACT?............................................................................19
3.1. Legal basis......................................................................................................19
3.2. Subsidiarity ....................................................................................................19
4. WHAT SHOULD BE ACHIEVED – OBJECTIVES ..........................................20
4.1. Strategic objectives........................................................................................20
4.2. Operational objective ....................................................................................20
4.3. Stakeholders views.........................................................................................21
5. POLICY OPTIONS ................................................................................................22
6. WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS AND WHO WILL BE AFFECTED? ................25
6.1. Scope...............................................................................................................25
6.2. Definitions ......................................................................................................27
6.3. Monitoring parameters.................................................................................27
6.4. Monitoring plans and templates...................................................................29
6.5. Verification.....................................................................................................29
6.6. Transparency .................................................................................................30
6.7. Impacts on SMEs...........................................................................................31
7. HOW DO THE OPTIONS COMPARE?..............................................................32
7.1. Comparison of options ..................................................................................32
7.2. Preferred option.............................................................................................33
8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION..................................................................37
ANNEX 1: PROCEDURAL INFORMATION.............................................................39
ANNEX 2: SYNOPSIS REPORT ..................................................................................42
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ANNEX 3: WHO IS AFFECTED..................................................................................49
ANNEX 4: MODELLING ..............................................................................................52
ANNEX 5: COMPARING THE EU MRV AND THE IMO DCS..............................53
4
GLOSSARY
EEA European Economic Area
EEDI Energy Efficiency Design Index
EMSA European Maritime Safety Agency
ETS Emission Trading System
GT Gross tonnage
GHG Greenhouse gas
IMO International Maritime Organization
IMO DCS International Maritime Organization Data Collection System
ISO International Organization for Standardization
MARPOL International Convention on MARitime POLlution
MEPC Maritime Environmental Protection Committee
MRV Monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions
Mt Metric tonne
NAB National Accreditation Body
NGO Non-governmental organisation
SEEMP Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan
SOLAS International Convention for Safety Of Life At Seas
5
1. INTRODUCTION
Following up on the 2011 EU White paper on transport, the Commission adopted in 2013
a strategy on the decarbonisation of shipping, calling for a gradual approach in the EU,
starting with an EU monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) scheme. As a result,
the European Parliament and the Council adopted in April 2015 the Regulation (EU)
2015/757 on the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide emissions from
maritime transport ("the EU MRV Regulation”). This EU regulation is an important
milestone to collect robust and verified CO2 emission data from ships operating in the
European Economic Area (EEA) and thereby supporting future policy-making and the
implementation of policy tools. It also provides the necessary level of transparency to
stimulate and encourage the up-take of new technologies and operational measures to
make ships greener.
In 2016, following the entry into force of the Paris Agreement and the adoption of the EU
MRV Regulation, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted a global data
collection system (IMO DCS) for fuel oil consumption of ships as well as specific IMO
data collection guidelines in 2016-2017. As a result, from 2019, ships calling into EEA
ports will have to report under both the EU MRV Regulation and the IMO DCS.
Article 22 of the EU MRV Regulation anticipated this situation as it foresees that the
Commission should, in the event of an international agreement on a global MRV system
for shipping emissions, review the regulation and, if appropriate, propose amendments to
ensure alignment with that international agreement.
Accordingly, while this impact assessment considers different alignment options, the
objective is not to replace the EU MRV Regulation by the IMO DCS. This document
builds on the inception impact assessment published in June 2017 and the public
consultation concluded in December 2017.
6
Background
GHG emissions from the maritime sector are substantial and are likely to increase
significantly in the future if nothing is done.
Due to the considerable consumption of fossil fuels, shipping emits significant amounts
of greenhouse gases and therefore contributes to climate change.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international maritime transport are estimated to
amount to 940 million tonnes of CO2 per year, representing approximately 2 - 3 percent
of total global GHG emissions. This is more than the emissions of any EU state. If the
shipping sector were a country, it would rank sixth in emission in the world. The impact
of the sector at EU level is equally considerable as it represented in 2015 13% of the
overall EU greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector1.
In the future, these emissions are projected to increase significantly if mitigation
measures are not put in place swiftly. According to an IMO study2,
depending on future
economic and energy developments, shipping emissions could grow by between 50% and
250% by 2050. Another study3
projects that emissions could increase by 20-120%
compared to 2012 levels over the same period for global temperature rise scenarios less
than 2°C.
At the EU level (i.e. for ships calling at EU ports), CO2 emissions from maritime
transport increased by 48% between 1990 and 2008, and are expected to increase by 86%
above 1990 levels by 2050; and this despite domestic emissions, already addressed by
national measures, have decreased 34% compared to 1990, levels. This clearly shows the
need for enhanced action on shipping emissions. The projected increase in GHG
emissions is due to the expected growth of the world economy and the associated
transport demand from world trade. Today, more than 90% of EU external trade is
seaborne.
1.1. Policy and legal context
Climate change is a challenge that requires urgent and meaningful action from all States
and all emitting sectors. The growing GHG emissions from the maritime sector are a
concern that needs to be tackled both globally and domestically, and included in the
National Determined Contributions (NDC) to the UNFCCC4
that are due to cover all the
sectors of the economy. However, maritime shipping remains the only means of
transportation not expressly addressed in the EU's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and the initial strategy adopted in 2018 at the international level to reduce
GHG emissions from ships is yet to be implemented.
1 https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/transport-emissions-of-greenhouse-
gases/transport-emissions-of-greenhouse-gases-10.
2 http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/PollutionPrevention/AirPollution/Pages/Greenhouse-
Gas-Studies-2014.aspx.
3 https://www.cedelft.eu/en/publications/download/2446.
4 https://unfccc.int/index.php/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-
contributions-ndcs.
7
As GHG emissions from ships are likely to continue to grow, it risks undermining the
objectives of the Paris Agreement (which entered into force in 2016 and is the first
universal, legally binding global climate agreement) and the efforts deployed by other
sectors. The Paris Agreement stresses the need for global GHG emissions to peak as soon
as possible and emphasizes the importance to reduce GHG emissions need in all sectors
of the economy with a view to limit global temperature increase well below 2° Celsius.
European context
While at the EU level, shipping remains the only transport mode not explicitly addressed
by a specific emission reduction objective for 2030, their GHG emissions are likely to
grow and represent an important challenge ahead.
Following up on the 2011 EU White paper on transport, the Commission adopted in 2013
a Communication5
(COM(2013) 479 final) setting out a strategy for progressively
integrating maritime emissions into the EU's Climate policy consisting of three
consecutive steps:
• Monitoring, reporting and verification of CO2 emissions from large ships calling at
EEA ports;
• Greenhouse gas reduction targets for the maritime transport sector;
• Further measures, including market-based measures, in the medium to long term.
As a result, the European Parliament and the Council adopted in April 2015 the
Regulation (EU) 2015/757 on the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon
dioxide emissions from maritime transport. This regulation was adopted following a
broad stakeholder consultation and it has been duly complemented by the adoption of
four delegated and implementing acts in 2016.
The EU MRV Regulation aims at various policy objectives:
1) Collect robust and verified CO2 emission data for all ships calling at European
Economic Area (EEA) ports, including CO2 emissions from these ships in ports;
2) Provide the necessary transparency concerning data to stimulate the up-take of
green ships and of energy efficient behaviours from shipping operators;
3) Provide robust information to support future policy discussions and implementation
of policy tools, as well as for the implementation of international objectives or
measures (e.g. on energy efficiency).
The main objective of the EU MRV Regulation is to contribute directly and indirectly to
GHG emission reductions from EU related ships, including from purely domestic
shipping (within a state), which should lead to potential energy/costs savings. According
to the analytical and preparatory work done for the EU MRV Regulation concluded in
20136
, the EU MRV could lead to annual reductions in fuel consumption and emissions
of around 2% by increasing transparency and awareness about GHG emissions from
shipping.
5 https://ec.europa.eu/clima/sites/clima/files/transport/shipping/docs/com_2013_479_en.pdf.
6 SWD(2013) 236 final,
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/sites/clima/files/transport/shipping/docs/swd_2013_236_en.pdf.
8
With the full regulatory framework now in place, this allowed the implementation to start
as required by the EU MRV Regulation with the preparation of monitoring plans that
were completed by shipping companies by August 2017.
In practice, the EU MRV Regulation requires companies operating large ships (above 5
000 gross tonnes) to monitor fuel consumption, and by proxy the CO2 emissions and the
energy efficiency of their ships on voyages to and from EEA7
ports on an annual basis.
As a first step, all companies were required to submit, by 31 August 2017, their
monitoring plan for each of their ships indicating the method chosen to monitor and
report CO2 emissions and other relevant information. Starting from January 2018,
companies had to start monitoring their CO2 emissions on an annual basis, and as from
2019, companies have to submit an emission report to the Commission and to the
authorities of the flag States report by 30 April of each year. Both the conformity
assessment of the monitoring plan and verification of the emissions reports, are carried
out by independent duly accredited verifiers. Based on this verified data, the Commission
shall publish the reported information on CO2 emissions and produce an annual report on
CO2 emissions and other relevant information from maritime transport covered by the
scope of the EU MRV Regulation.
In general, the role and contribution of the shipping sector to emission reductions
consistent with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement remains an important issue
in the EU, with the European Parliament consistently raising the need to address shipping
alongside all other sectors of the EU economy. As a result, the recent amendment to the
EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Directive, by Directive (EU) 2018/410 of the
European Parliament and the Council, emphasises the need to act on shipping emissions
as well as all other sectors of the economy. The Directive also states that the Commission
should keep IMO action under regular review, calls for action from the IMO or the EU to
start from 20238
, including preparatory work and stakeholder consultation.
International context
Although there is a need to set and implement a global approach to address GHG
emissions from international shipping, progress at IMO has been relatively slow.
IMO started working on the reduction of GHG emissions in 1997. In 2011, IMO adopted
the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships and the requirement to carry a
Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) on board of all ships. The SEEMP
urges ship owners and operators to consider new technologies and practices when
seeking to optimise the performance of a ship. However, as the measures described in the
SEEMP are not mandatory, the impact of SEEMP remains uncertain.
Following the adoption of the EU MRV Regulation, and, inspired by it, the IMO started
negotiations concerning the setting up of a data collection system. In 2016, the Maritime
Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) established the legal framework for an
IMO Data Collection System (IMO DCS)9
where owners of large ships (above 5000
gross tonnes) engaged in international shipping have to report information on fuel
consumption of their ships to the States in which those ships are registered ('flag States').
7 The European Economic Area (EEA) brings together the EU Member States with Iceland,
Liechtenstein and Norway.
8 See, in particular, recital 4 of Directive (EU) 2018/410.
9 http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/PollutionPrevention/AirPollution/Pages/Data-
Collection-System.aspx.
9
The aggregated data is then to be reported by flag States to the IMO, which shall produce
an annual report to the Marine Environment Protection Committee summarising the data
collected. Details and implementing modalities of the system were agreed in IMO
through guidelines10
adopted by MEPC 70 in October 2016 and by MEPC 71 in July
2017. The IMO DCS entered into force in March 2018. The collection of fuel
consumption data under the IMO system is due to start on 1 January 2019.
It should be noted that the IMO DCS is part of the MARPOL Convention's Annex VI
that has been ratified by many States, but around 40 States have still to do so. An
overview of the status of ratification can be found at the IMO website11
.
In addition, and following two years of negotiations, which started in the wake of the
Paris Agreement, IMO adopted in April 2018 an Initial strategy on reduction of GHG
emissions from ships. The strategy includes a GHG emission reduction objective of at
least 50% by 2050 (compared to 2008 levels) and aims to full decarbonisation as soon as
possible in this century. However, short-, mid- and long-term further measures, including
Research and Innovation, necessary to achieve this objective remain to be developed and
agreed.
10 2016 Guidelines for the development of a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP)
(resolution MEPC.282(70)); 2017 Guidelines for Administration verification of ship fuel oil
consumption data (resolution MEPC.292(71)); 2017 Guidelines for the development and management
of the IMO Ship Fuel Oil Consumption Database (resolution MEPC.293(71)); MEPC circular on
submission of data to the IMO data collection system of fuel oil consumption of ships from a State not
party to MARPOL Annex VI (MEPC.1/Circ.871); and sample format for the confirmation of
compliance pursuant to regulation 5.4.5 of MARPOL Annex VI (MEPC.1/Circ.876).
11 http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/StatusOfConventions/Pages/Default.aspx.
10
Background: Paris Agreement and EU strategy on maritime emissions
The Paris Agreement aims at limiting global temperature increase well below 2°C
compared to pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts towards 1,5°C, based on adequate
emission reductions from all Countries and all emitting sectors. The Paris Agreement
states that developed countries should continue to undertake economy-wide absolute
emissions reductions while developing countries should move towards an economy wide
approach over time.
The EU committed to an economy-wide GHG emission reduction of at least 40% by
2030 below 1990 levels (without the use of international credits), which constitutes the
EU economy-wide commitment under the Paris Agreement12
.
The European Parliament has placed a strong emphasis on all sectors of the economy
contributing to emission reductions, which was reflected in Directive 2009/29/EC of the
European Parliament and Council and Decision No 406/2009/EC of the European
Parliament and Council, calling for contributions from all sectors of the economy to
achieve emission reductions, including the shipping sector. The most recent revision to
the EU emissions trading system, Directive (EU) 2018/410, also emphasises that all
sectors must contribute to emission reductions13
.
In 2011, the Commission White Paper on Transport Policy already indicated that EU
shipping CO2 emissions should be reduced by at least 40% (50% if feasible) by 205014
.
The EU's CO2 emissions from domestic shipping emissions have, by 2016, been reduced
by 33.1% below 1990 levels15
, but international shipping emissions "related" to the EU
(i.e. from ships calling to EEA ports from third countries and ships sailing between 2 or
more EU Member States) have continued to increase, and are currently around 32.5%
above 1990 levels.
Following this, the European Commission adopted in 2013 a Communication16
(COM(2013) 479 final) setting out a strategy for progressively integrating maritime
emissions into the EU's Climate policy starting with the
monitoring, reporting and verification of CO2 emissions from large ships calling at EEA
ports. A robust MRV system is indeed a key element for climate policies, and for
possible additional policy measures building on it, be it at EU or global level.
The present EU basic legislative climate framework, namely the Effort Sharing
Regulation (ESR) and the Emissions Trading System (ETS) cover most of the economy,
including aviation, but not shipping, which remains the only means of transportation not
included in the Union’s commitment to reduce GHG emissions17
.
12 http://www4.unfccc.int/ndcregistry/PublishedDocuments/European%20Union%20First/LV-03-06-
EU%20INDC.pdf.
13 See, in particular, recital 4.
14 See COM(2011)144, paragraph 29, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52011DC0144.
15 See http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/data-viewers/greenhouse-gases-viewer. It should be
noted that 'domestic' emissions are considered for the purposes of UNFCCC reporting to be emissions
internal to each Member State, as no decision on the allocation of other emissions has yet taken place.
16 https://ec.europa.eu/clima/sites/clima/files/transport/shipping/docs/com_2013_479_en.pdf.
17 Recital 3 of Regulation (EU) 2015/757.
11
2. PROBLEM ANALYSIS
2.1. The problem to be addressed
After the adoption of the IMO DCS, ships calling into EEA ports will have to report
under both the IMO and the EU systems from January 2019. In accordance with Article
22 of the EU MRV Regulation, it has not been considered to replace the EU MRV
Regulation by the IMO DCS in its entirety. In this context, the main challenge is to find
appropriate ways to help market actors implement both schemes while streamlining and
reducing administrative burden as possible, and while preserving the objectives of the EU
MRV Regulation.
The two MRV systems show some important differences (see 2.2. below). For instance,
while the EU MRV Regulation provides the necessary transparency and information at
individual ship level to stimulate the up-take of more energy efficient technologies and
behaviours, data from the IMO DCS are not available at ship level and not accessible by
all market actors. In addition, the scope are different. The EU MRV Regulation aims to
collect data on CO2 emissions from purely domestic activities, international voyages to
and from an EEA ports and from ships at berth or moving within an EEA port. On the
other hand, the IMO DCS aims to gather global data on fuel consumption by States from
their ships engaged in international shipping, and does not cover domestic maritime
transport as well CO2 emissions within ports. There is also a fundamental difference on
the reporting entity. In the EU MRV Regulation, the obligation lies with the shipping
company while in the IMO DCS the responsibility has been assigned to the flag States.
Nevertheless, the schemes also present many similarities. Both schemes have been
designed with the objective to inform and feed future policy-makers’ decisions. They are
both based on data already available on ships (required by international maritime
legislation, to be available on board of ships) and they both require ships above 5000
gross tonnes to collect and report their data annually to the relevant authorities, and to
carry on board a document to demonstrate compliance.
2.1.1. The reporting obligations under two systems
Under the EU MRV Regulation framework, shipping companies have the obligation to
monitor their CO2 emissions as described in their monitoring plan (MP) and report their
emissions in their emissions report (ER). The reporting obligation is to the Commission
and to the authorities of the flag States concerned (EU Member States), and with EMSA
managing the database (THETIS-MRV). The first monitoring period for the shipping
company started 1 January 2018 and first ERs are due by 30 April 2019.
Under the IMO DCS, according to Regulation 22A of IMO MARPOL Annex VI, the
reporting is split into two steps: from the shipping company to the flag State and from the
flag State to the IMO. The first monitoring period for the shipping company will start
1January 2019 and first aggregated data are due by the end of March 2020.
Considering the obligations under these two systems, ships calling into EEA ports would
have to report under both the IMO and the EU systems. This will require additional
administrative effort for shipping companies, even more so when parameters are not
aligned. The EU MRV Regulation anticipated this situation and included in its Article 22
the obligation for the Commission to review the Regulation, if appropriate, once the
12
international agreement is in place, in order to ensure alignment with that international
agreement.
2.1.2. The need to preserve the objectives of the EU MRV Regulation: obtaining
reliable data on GHG emissions from maritime transport and overcoming
market barriers to the uptake of GHG emissions reduction measures
The alignment of the EU MRV Regulation with the IMO DCS should aim at preserving
the objectives pursued by the EU system, namely the projected positive impact of the EU
MRV Regulation in terms of gathering reliable data and addressing market barriers
currently preventing the adoption of energy efficiency measures, while reducing the
administrative effort resulting from the compliance with the two systems.
The availability of robust and reliable data on GHG emissions from shipping activities is
a prerequisite for any further policy action and the development and implementation of
effective measures, be it at EU or global level. The 2013 EU MRV impact assessment
concluded that the lack of accurate, comparable and standardised information about fuel
consumption is one of the barriers to cost effective GHG emission reductions in the
maritime sector and therefore to a reduction of fuel cost. Removing this barrier would
trigger an improvement in energy efficiency of the ships and therefore enhance
innovation and research due to a better understanding of the fuel consumption. Aggregate
data were not considered to provide the necessary detailing for this.
This is relevant for future policy developments in the EU in accordance with the 2013
strategy on shipping and for the development of relevant innovative technologies and is
also relevant in the context of the implementation of the recently agreed IMO initial
GHG emission reduction strategy. In addition, the availability of robust and accurate data
is a key tool for shipping actors to monitor and gradually improve their energy efficiency
and was identified as a priority under the 2013 Impact Assessment.
Furthermore, as indicated in the 2013 IA, many of the relevant technical and operational
measures, such as slow steaming, weather routing, contra-rotating propellers, propulsion
efficiency devices, etc. can be cost effective i.e. they deliver more fuel savings than the
investment required. However, their uptake on a large scale is hampered by the existence
of market barriers, including lack of information and awareness on energy efficiency of
ships, split incentives to improve efficiency (different incentives for actors in the supply
chain, e.g. a ship-owner does not necessarily benefit from the reduction in fuel costs due
to improved efficiency, however the ship operator does), or the lack of access to finance
(e.g. for a ship operator). All these barriers discourage the uptake of GHG emissions
reduction measures.
2.2. Design differences between the EU MRV Regulation and the IMO DCS
The two systems have a different design in some important aspects, due to differences in
the objectives pursued, notably as regards transparency and the public availability of
data, as well as their scope.
The EU MRV Regulation pursues the objective of encouraging the uptake of GHG
emissions reduction measures through the publication of data on a per ship basis. By
providing comparable and reliable information on fuel consumption and energy
efficiency of individual ships, the uptake of measures that reduce GHG emissions is
incentivised. As estimated in the 2013 IA, this is expected to result in GHG emission
reductions of up to 2% compared to business-as-usual and net costs reduction of up to
13
€1.2 billion in 2030. On the contrary, while the IMO DCS will also collect annual per-
ship data (but anonymised with individual ships not being identifiable), this anonymised
data will not be made publicly available.
As a result of this divergence in objectives, even though the two systems bear many
similarities, a number of design differences exist between the EU MRV Regulation and
the IMO DCS that open up alignment possibilities:
 Governance: Under the IMO DCS, companies report to their flag State (e.g. for a
ship sailing between EEA states under Panama’s flag, the company will report to
Panama), whereas under the EU MRV Regulation all ships calling at EEA ports,
irrespective of their flag, are obliged to report to the Commission (via the EMSA
database) and to the EU flag States. This means that under the IMO DCS a very
significant part of EU (EEA) related emissions would not be reported to the
Commission as it is estimated that half of the EEA related emissions are caused by
ships sailing under non-EU flags18.
Furthermore, under the IMO DCS, emissions
related to the EEA could not be identified as they are part of the annual values
covering all voyages of that year reported.
 Scope (ships, voyages and activities covered): The IMO DCS applies only to ships
engaged in international shipping while the EU MRV Regulation additionally covers
domestic (internal to a Member State) maritime transport. The EU MRV Regulation
does not include maritime sector activities other than transport of passengers or cargo
for commercial purposes while IMO includes all ship types above 5000 GT
performing international voyages including for instance fish catching and processing
ships. Another major difference is that the EU MRV Regulation requires
differentiated monitoring and reporting of emissions and fuel consumption of intra-
EU voyages, incoming and outgoing voyages and in port emissions/ consumption.
 Definitions: The definitions of some concepts (“company”, “reporting period”) are
different in both systems, potentially leading to a different attribution of
responsibilities and to different timelines for complying with reporting obligations.
 Monitoring parameters: Monitoring parameters in the EU MRV Regulation and the
IMO DCS present similarities and differences (see table 2.2). The main divergence is
that the EU MRV Regulation includes the actual cargo carried as one of the
parameters used to calculate individual ships' average operational energy efficiency19
,
whereas the IMO DCS includes the cargo carrying capacity of ships. Furthermore,
the two systems use slightly different definitions of the parameters 'distance travelled'
and 'time spent at sea'/ 'hours underway'.
 Monitoring & reporting plans and templates: The EU MRV Regulation requires
the use of a mandatory template for the monitoring plan whereas in the IMO DCS,
only a recommended template is provided. Under both the EU MRV Regulation and
the IMO DCS, the shipping company is responsible for monitoring and reporting.
 Verification: The EU MRV Regulation applies in a non-discriminatory way to all
ships calling at ports in the EEA and requires third party verification in order to
ensure the accuracy of the data submitted. It uses a specific verification system
similar (though simplified) to the one applied in the EU Emissions Trading System
18 About 33% of EEA port calls are made by non EEA flags, mainly by large ships and on long voyages,
leading to a share of EEA related emissions of roughly 50%.
19 As defined in the EU MRV Regulation (Section B of Annex II).
14
(ETS), based on internationally agreed ISO standards and EU specific verification
rules. Furthermore, EU MRV verifiers are subject to supervision by National
Accreditation Bodies (NABs)20
. In the IMO DCS, flag Administrations shall verify
data according to national rules, taking into account IMO guidelines. Within the IMO
system, the verification that flag States fulfil their international obligations is carried
out via regulatory IMO audits. In case flag States decide to delegate certain tasks to a
Recognized Organization (RO), such organization is also subject to a regular
supervision in accordance with the RO Code.
 Demonstration of compliance: Both systems use documents of compliance to
enable ships to demonstrate that they are in compliance with the respective
regulations. For the EU MRV Regulation, the third party verifiers issue the
documents of compliance whereas this is ensured by the flag State authorities or any
Recognized Organization (RO) working on their behalf under the IMO DCS.
 Transparency: Similar to other sectors, the EU MRV Regulation includes the
publication by the Commission of annually reported data on a "per ship" basis,
aggregated for all voyages. This provides stakeholders and the general public
information on the CO2 emissions and the energy efficiency of individual ships. The
IMO central database will contain anonymised per-ship data and will be managed by
the IMO Secretariat. It will only be accessible to IMO Member States and not be
made available to the public.
20 Operational (energy and CO2) efficiency of a ship expresses its efficiency in its daily operation and
relates energy consumption/ CO2 to the cargo carried over distance.
15
Table 2.1. Comparison of EU MRV Regulation and IMO DCS features
Features and possible
candidate for alignment
EU MRV Regulation IMO DCS
Governance All ships calling to EEA
ports report to the
Commission and the EU flag
States
Ships report to their “flag
State” and flag State to IMO
Scope Includes domestic ship
emissions.
Does not include ships not
transporting cargo or
passengers for commercial
purposes (e.g. dredgers, fish
catching and processing
ships)
Does not include domestic
ship emissions.
Includes all types of ships
within the scope of Chapter 4
of MARPOL Annex VI.
Definitions Some concepts are defined differently (“company”,
“reporting period”)
Monitoring parameters see table 2.2
Granularity of parameters Total EEA-related, total
intra-EEA, total incoming
voyages, total outgoing
voyages, total in ports
Only global figures
Monitoring and reporting
plans and templates
EU monitoring templates are
used
IMO templates recommended
Verification Mandatory verification by
accredited verifiers based on
internationally agreed ISO
standards and EU specific
verification rules
Mandatory verification by
national authorities of flag
States or by duly authorised
ROs, according to national
rules, and taking into account
IMO guidelines
Issuance of document of
compliance
by accredited verifiers by national authorities of flag
States or duly authorised ROs
on their behalf
Transparency Information published
including the identity of the
ship (albeit not in all the
granularity collected)
Information available to Flag
States only and not published
16
Table 2.2. EU MRV Regulation monitoring parameters21.
Differences with IMO DCS.
EU MRV IMO DCS
Port of departure and arrival Not required. Aggregated reporting. No
obligation to monitor per journey.
Amount and emission factor for each type
of fuel
Required. Similar.
CO2 emitted Not required (although it can be obtained
without further monitoring with the data on
fuels and emission factors)
Distance travelled Required. Different definition.
Time spent at sea Required. Different definition (called
“hours underway”).
Cargo carried Different parameter (deadweight, which
refers to cargo capacity).
Transport work Not required
Further detailing on differences and synergies are provided in Annex 5.
21 The monitoring parameters of the EU MRV are listed in Article 9 (1) of the EU MRV Regulation.
17
2.3. Most affected stakeholders
The following groups are affected by the problem of growing CO2 emissions from
shipping and by the existence of the two parallel systems of data collection:
 Citizens/General public: have an interest in governments taking effective action
to avoid dangerous climate change, and in measures enabling to collect robust
data on maritime CO2 emissions and other relevant information, including the
carbon footprint of shipping, as these affect their quality of life and that of future
generations. They have also an interest as customers of maritime transport
services and consumers of goods transported by ships.
 The shipping industry (ship-owners as well as other parties having assumed the
responsibility for the operation of the ship and their European and global
associations) are directly affected by the development of measures aligning the
IMO DCS and the EU MRV Regulation. Ships over 5000 Gross tons calling at
EEA ports after 1st
January 2018 are covered by the EU MRV Regulation and will
also be directly affected by the IMO DCS (high interest).
 EU MRV shipping verifiers are directly affected by the revision as they will need
to adapt their activities to the newly formulated scheme.
 EEA Member States: National governments have, by definition, a major role in
the design and implementation of measures aiming at tackling maritime
emissions, both at European level on the EU MRV (as flag States responsible for
the compliance with EU laws of the ships flying their flag and as port States
responsible for verifying compliance with EU laws of ships calling into their
ports) and at international level on the IMO DCS (responsible directly for
verifying and reporting to the IMO data collected by the ships flying their flag
while verifying compliance of ships not flying their flag calling into their ports
through Port State Control).
 Third countries: acting as flag States and IMO are involved in the implementation
of the IMO DCS. Third country flag States will see their ships calling at EEA
ports covered by the EU MRV Shipping.
 Other actors of the shipping sector (such as; ship builders and marine equipment
manufacturers, cargo owners, logistics companies and ports) are increasingly
concerned to reduce their carbon footprint through improved technology and
operations and to use the data to stimulate improvements to the energy efficiency
of ships.
 National accreditation bodies responsible for providing accreditation under the
MRV shipping regulation.
 Civil society groups addressing the environmental impact of maritime transport
e.g. research community, think tanks, environmental NGOs, shipping emission
players (developers of solutions related to CO2 emissions and energy efficiency
for shipping).
 International organisations: dealing with transport and climate change e.g. various
United Nations bodies (and in particular the IMO), World Bank, Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development, International Energy Agency.
18
2.4. Was a fitness check carried out?
A specific retrospective evaluation for the EU MRV Regulation is not feasible at this
stage, as the MRV requirements for ships only entered into force in 2018 with the first
emissions reports covering 2018 emissions becoming available in April 2019. This
impact assessment, focussing on the differences between the EU MRV and IMO DCS’
design, is considered adequate in terms of the obligation put on the Commission by the
co-legislators as stipulated in Article 22 of the EU MRV Regulation.
19
3. WHY SHOULD THE EU ACT?
Article 22 of the EU MRV Regulation contains a review clause for the Commission in
the event of an international agreement on a global monitoring, reporting and verification
system, to review the regulation and, if appropriate, propose amendments to the
Regulation.
EU monitoring and verification rules have been in place since 2015, as adopted by the
European Parliament and the Council. The co-existence of reporting obligations for ships
calling at EEA ports leads to the question whether changes should be proposed to the EU
MRV Regulation to align more closely with the IMO system.
While conducting this assessment, maintaining an effective monitoring system and the
achievement of the original objectives of the EU MRV Regulation (as described in
section 1) remain the starting points. The availability of robust and reliable data on GHG
emissions from maritime transport is a prerequisite to assess the progress of the maritime
transport’s contribution towards achieving climate objectives and, if necessary, for the
development of any mitigation measures in the maritime transport sector. At the same
time, unnecessary duplication should be avoided whenever possible. Methodological
differences that are not functional to the objectives of the EU MRV Regulation should be
eliminated or altered. Reporting obligations should be reviewed so as to enable both ship
owners and EU flag States to fulfil their obligations under both systems in a way that
would avoid unnecessary divergences. The EU should therefore continue to collect
reliable EU-related emissions data from maritime transport and incentivize the uptake of
emission reduction measures through the publication of emissions data, whilst taking into
account and facilitating the implementation of the recently agreed IMO DCS.
3.1. Legal basis
The legal basis for acting at the EU level is the environmental legal basis enshrined in
Article 192 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as the principal
objective of the measure is the protection of the environment through the reduction of
GHGs and as used as legal basis for the EU MRV Regulation adopted in 2015.
3.2. Subsidiarity
As the basis of the proposal is EU legislation, any amendments need to be done at EU
level with the agreement of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Collecting and publishing data of ships' emissions and energy efficiency based on a
mandatory set of requirements has the advantage that the results are fully comparable.
This comparability contributes to the removal of the market barrier on lack and scattered
information.
Collecting data at national level instead of at EU level would significantly increase the
administrative effort for industry and ships using ports as all the EU Member States
would need to individually monitor, verify and report data.
20
4. WHAT SHOULD BE ACHIEVED – OBJECTIVES
4.1. Strategic objectives
a) Addressing GHG emission from ships and ports
The first objective is to tackle maritime’s emissions growth. Continued emissions growth
from the shipping sector is incompatible with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.
The EU has policies in place (EU MRV Regulation) that address these emissions; in
accordance with the Paris Agreement principles, the EU should not backslide on climate
action. The IMO is also taking steps in the same direction through the IMO DCS and its
initial strategy recently agreed. This too should contribute to achieving the goals of the
Paris Agreement, but for this to materialise concrete measures are yet to be agreed.
b) Improving cost-effectiveness of ships by increasing their energy efficiency and
minimising administrative burden
The second strategic objective should be enhancing the cost-effectiveness of ships.
Climate measures should entail improvements in energy efficiency, lower fuel
consumption, shifting to renewable fuel solutions and a reduction of costs for shipping
companies. Minimising the administrative burden for companies, notably in the context
of the co-existence between the EU MRV Regulation and the IMO DCS, should also
contribute to reducing costs.
4.2. Operational objective
Facilitating the harmonious and complementary implementation of the systems by EU
Member States while preserving the objectives of the EU MRV Regulation:
With the entry into force of the IMO DCS in 2018, shipping companies will have to
collect relevant information on fuel consumption and other related data relating to the
international activities of their ships of and above 5000 GT from 2019 onwards with first
reports due in 2020. This reporting obligation cumulates to the existing obligations under
the EU MRV Regulation to collect EEA-related CO2 emissions and energy efficiency
indicators from 2018 onwards with first reports due in 2019. Alongside preserving the
strategic objective, the operational objective is to facilitate the complementary and
streamlined implementation of the two systems by EU Member states, with the aim of
reducing the administrative burden for companies obliged to report under both.
In doing so, the original EU MRV Regulation objectives have to be preserved, i.e.:
 Collect robust and verified CO2 emission data for EEA related shipping;
The objective of the EU MRV Regulation is to ensure the accurate monitoring,
reporting and verification of CO2 emissions and other climate relevant
information from ships arriving at, staying in or departing from ports under the
jurisdiction of a Member State, in order to promote the reduction of CO2
emissions from maritime transport in a cost effective manner. This objective
should be maintained.
 Prepare for future policy discussions on the need and type of further actions;
21
The collection and public availability of robust information on CO2 emissions
on EEA related voyages is key to inform policy-makers’ decisions on the need
and type of further action.
 Stimulate the up-take of new technologies and operational measures making
ships greener;
Monitoring fuel, emissions and other relevant data at individual ship level and
providing transparency on them should contribute to raising awareness on the
potential for cost-effective improvement of ship energy efficiency. It should also
lead to the delivery of robust information on fuel consumption and energy
efficiency of EEA-related shipping to relevant markets. Both elements are
important for the environmental effectiveness of the EU MRV Regulation, but
also for the economic benefits associated with higher efficiency. The legislation
should contribute to overcoming existing market barriers that impede
undertaking efficiency measures. Those measures should lead to the reduction of
fuel consumption and, consequently, to cost savings.
 Level playing field.
It is essential to maintain equal treatment in order to avoid distortions of
competition and to enable moving to the later stages of the EU strategy at the
appropriate time. The same rules should apply to all EEA-related shipping
activity, so a level playing field is maintained for ships competing on the same
routes, irrespective of their flag.
4.3. Stakeholders views
These objectives are widely in line with the interests expressed by stakeholders on their
replies to the online public consultation and the targeted e-survey (see synopsis report in
Annex 2). Civil society organisations, national accreditation bodies, research institutions
and citizens/individuals widely support that some important objectives need to be
preserved when amending the EU MRV Regulation. These include raising awareness on
emission reduction, providing robust information to market players on fuel consumption
and energy efficiency and collecting data for an informed policy making. For the
shipping sector the main priority is, however, reducing administrative burden. EEA
Member States and EU MRV Regulation verifiers widely support these objectives too,
notably the collection of reliable data to develop future policies and minimising the
administrative burden.
22
5. POLICY OPTIONS
Different policy options have been considered to identify the features of the EU MRV
Regulation that might be possibly align with the IMO DCS. These alignment options
have been assessed based on their ability to streamline and reduce administrative burdens
for companies and administrations, as well as their ability to guarantee the preservation
of the objectives, integrity and robustness of the EU MRV Regulation.
Discarded candidates for alignment
Considering the further-reaching philosophy of the EU MRV Regulation compared to the
IMO DCS, it would be inappropriate to align the following key elements of the EU MRV
Regulation design:
Governance
Aligning the “governance” aspects of the EU MRV Regulation to the IMO DCS has been
discarded, despite some representatives of the shipping sector have expressed support for
relying solely on the IMO system to address EU shipping emissions. Adopting the IMO
DCS governance approach would entail that the EU and its Member States can only
collect data concerning emissions from EU-flagged ships, leaving aside the CO2
emissions emitted by non EU-flagged ships as part of voyages involving EEAs. This
would prevent the gathering of complete information on EEA related shipping emissions.
This approach would not allow meeting the objectives the legislation is pursuing, as the
EU and its Member States would only have access to part of the EEA-related data. This
would not only limit immediate EU climate action, but would also impede the
development of any further measures to tackle shipping emissions, as required by the
2013 EU strategy. Maintaining the EU MRV Regulation approach on governance also
requires that reporting is done per voyage, in order to obtain emissions data, specifically,
from voyages to and from EEA ports. Therefore, alignment on this aspect to the IMO
DCS, where reporting is done in an aggregated manner, must also be discarded.
CO2 reporting
The possibility that ships do not report CO2 emissions data, as is the case under the IMO
DCS, where only fuel consumption is mandatory for reporting, has also been discarded.
This would be fully inconsistent with the very objective of the EU MRV Regulation,
which is related to the CO2 emissions performance of ships and their climate impact.
Bearing in mind these limitations, three policy options have been considered:
 Baseline Scenario (option 1)
The baseline scenario reflects what would happen if action is not taken, i.e., if none of
the features of the EU MRV Regulation are harmonised with the IMO DCS ones. Under
the baseline scenario, the EU MRV Regulation would remain unchanged. This would
mean that the current parameters for monitoring, reporting and verification of data under
the EU MRV Regulation would continue to apply irrespective of the existence of
additional IMO requirements. Ships of above 5000 GT transporting passengers or cargo
for commercial purposes using the European Economic Area (EEA) ports that have to
monitor and report their GHG emissions from international maritime transport activities
related to the EU under both systems would therefore have to comply with partially
different rules.
23
 Streamlining (option 2)
Under this scenario, an assessment should be made on which of the EU MRV
Regulation’s design elements could be harmonised with those of the IMO DCS in order
to facilitate compliance and reduce costs for those shipping companies having to report
under both systems, in a way that preserves the objectives of the EU MRV.
To this end, the streamlining of the elements for which there is a design difference
between the EU MRV Regulation and the IMO DCS should be assessed. This includes
the different alignment candidates (except governance & CO2 monitoring) identified in
section 2.2.:
 Scope.
 Definitions.
 Monitoring parameters.
 Monitoring plans and templates.
 Verification.
 Transparency.
 High Convergence (option 3)
Under this option, the EU MRV Regulation would be amended to harmonise all its
technical aspects with the IMO DCS, at the risk of undermining its expected market
impact and its key policy objectives. The EU MRV Regulation would adopt the IMO
DCS’s requirements on monitoring, reporting and verification. The same data collected
for the purpose of the IMO DCS would be used for the EU MRV Regulation, subject to
similar rules. This means that the data would not be verified by independent third parties
but checked in accordance with the IMO guidelines instead. Regarding the scope,
information on voyages from or to an EU port would still be collected, independent of
flag State, but domestic and in-port emissions would no longer be covered. The reporting
of voyage EU port information is not covered under IMO DCS, as there the reporting is
based on flag State. Hence, some monitoring parameters would remain as now being
recorded under the EU MRV Regulation, to be able to track this type of information.
The next table provides a visual overview of the alignment options considered:
24
Summary table: features to be aligned to IMO DCS rules under each option (in yellow,
elements not to be aligned; in green, features to be aligned, in light green partially
aligned)
OPTIONS GOVER-
NANCE &
CO2 reporting
SCOPE MONITO-
RING PLANS
&
TEMPLATES
DEFI-
NITIONS
MONI-
TORING
PARA-
METERS
VERIFI-
CATION
TRANSPA-
RENCY
BASELINE
(Option 1)
STREAM-
LINING
(Option 2)
HIGH
CONVER-
GENCE
(Option 3)
25
6. WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS AND WHO WILL BE AFFECTED?
This section will assess the impact of the different policy options. It is important to note
that the impact assessment carried out for the adoption of the 2013 EU MRV proposal
went into an in-depth analysis of the environmental, economic and social impacts of
several alternatives, including the one finally resulting in the current EU MRV
Regulation. The options to be assessed now only represent technical variations to the
existing approach. Therefore, the previous impact assessment is still an important source
of data in order to assess the impact of the different options. AEA Technology, who
provided support for that impact assessment, developed a model based on the TIMES
architecture, building on a representation of shipping activity, a representation of vessels
and cost assumptions.
Furthermore, new information from the implementation of the EU MRV Regulation is
not available yet, as the system has only started to be applied in 2018 (with reporting
obligations starting in 2019).
On that basis, a qualitative analysis of the technical changes that the different policy
options represent is undertaken in this section. In some cases, this is complemented by a
quantitative assessment of the impacts, which relies on the 2013 impact assessment
information.
The options 2 and 3 differ from the baseline option on whether certain features of the
current EU MRV Regulation are aligned with the IMO DCS or not, with Option 3 (High
Convergence) aiming at a higher harmonisation while Option 2 (Streamlining) is more
selective on which parameters should be aligned. For that reason, the following
assessment will first consider each of these features and the impact of aligning them or
not. This aims at obtaining a specific assessment of each individual element, which can
help define the preferred option.
6.1. Scope
Scope considerations refer to two different aspects:
On the one hand, as regards the geographical scope, the IMO DCS applies to ships
engaged in international shipping while the EU MRV Regulation additionally covers
domestic (internal to a Member State) maritime transport. The geographical coverage of
the EU MRV Regulation allows a more complete monitoring of the CO2 emissions from
maritime transport in the EEA.
Another important difference is that ships’ CO2 emissions within EEA ports are covered
by the EU MRV Regulation and monitored and reported separately so as to incentivise
the reduction of CO2 emissions within EEA ports and to substantially reinforce existing
awareness of shipping emissions impacts in EEA ports and coastal areas. These
emissions are not considered by the IMO DCS.
On the other hand, as regards the type of ships affected, both systems are already very
much aligned. Both address emissions of ships above 5000 GT. The only difference with
respect to the type of ships is that the EU MRV Regulation, contrary to the IMO DCS,
does not include maritime sector activities other than transport of passengers or cargo for
commercial purposes due to proportionality reasons.
Aligning the EU MRV Regulation to the IMO DCS on scope may have a negative
environmental impact. If the scope of the EU system remains unchanged, it would
26
continue contributing to the achievement of the projected 2% decrease in emissions that
should deliver a cumulative emission reduction of 55.9 MtCO2 up to 2030 (as estimated
in the 2013 impact assessment). The related reduction in fuel consumption would result
also in a reduction of other pollutants (SOx, NOx, particulate matter) beyond current EU
legislation, which are particularly relevant to improve air quality at local level22
.
On the contrary, if the systems are aligned, the EU MRV would not address domestic
shipping emissions23
(from shipping activity between a State’s ports) and ships’
emissions in ports. Data corresponding both to domestic emissions and to in-port
emissions are relevant for Member States to be able to design coherent and cost-effective
climate, energy and environment policies, including addressing air quality at local level
(especially in cities with large ports and in coastal areas). Renouncing to collect those
data would create barriers to the development of future measures to further address these
emissions. As already mentioned, for different categories of stakeholders, and notably for
EEA States authorities, collecting relevant and accurate data to assess the evolution of
ship emission and ensure well-informed policymaking is particularly important, as the
outcome of the public consultation shows.
On the other hand, the extension of EU MRV requirement to fish catching and processing
ships, wooden ships of a primitive build, and ships not propelled by mechanical means
does not bring significant benefits, as the emissions by these ships are small. In fact,
those types of vessels were not included in the EU MRV scope due to proportionality
reasons24.
Also, considerable efforts are being made to the greening of the EU fishing
fleet. The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) supports fishermen in the
transition to sustainable fishing by making funds of 4340 million euro available for
2014/2020.
From a social point of view, the main impacts of shipping emissions identified in the
2013 impact assessment where those on human health, linked to reduction of emissions
of pollutants such as NOx, SOx and PM (particulate matter). For the reasons explained
above, the alignment to the scope of IMO could have negative effects, especially as
regards the emission reduction in ports.
Finally, from an economic perspective, the scope of the EU MRV Regulation is expected
to contribute to a decrease of fuel consumption of 2%. These improvements in efficiency
would mean €9.4 billion up to 2030, in accordance with the 2013 impact assessment.
These gains would not change significantly in case the scope of types of ships is aligned;
conversely, in order to maximize the efficiency improvements, it is preferable to account
also for in-ports and domestic emissions.
22 The Commission report (COM/2018/188 final) on the implementation of directive (EU) 2016/802
regulating the sulphur content of marine fuels is an example of existing efforts and legislation in this
area.
23 The data on the share of domestic or in-port emission is currently not available, albeit it is estimated
that about 100 ships above 5000 GT are engaged solely in domestic trade in the EU Member States.
24 As assessed in the 2013 Impact Assessment for the current EU MRV Regulation, the same measure
was considered not be proportionate for certain vessels. The effect of the exclusion of certain vessel
types and smaller ship categories was analysed. Excluding the 5 least relevant ship types (yacht,
offshore, service, fishing and miscellaneous) as these types have the lowest average annual emission
per ship, the number of ships was reduced by about 2000. The 13 remaining main ship types included
tankers, bulkers, general cargo ships, other dry, container ships, vehicle carriers, roll-on/roll-off ships
(RoRo), ferries and cruise ships. These 13 main ship types and vessels of at least 5000 GT represent
about 11,000 ships (56% of the total number) representing 160 Mt CO2 emitted (90% of the total
amount) to and from EU ports. Further, consideration was given to the public consultation carried out
for the 2013 IA.
27
6.2. Definitions
The alignment on some key definitions such as the concept of “company” or “reporting
period” do not have significant environmental, social or economic impacts.
In the EU MRV Regulation, the owner on the last day of year is responsible for
emissions in the calendar year whereas in the IMO system responsibility moves to the
new owner from the date the ship is sold.
Harmonising these concepts reduces the administrative burden of complying with the two
systems. An alignment on the attribution of monitoring and reporting obligations in case
of “changes of companies” would ensure that the same legal entity monitors and reports
emissions data for both the EU MRV Regulation and the IMO DCS. In parallel, the
harmonisation of the “reporting period” makes possible that the monitoring and reporting
activity takes into account similarly calculated reporting periods. Despite not having data
available yet (reporting under the EU MRV Regulation and IMO DCS will only start in
2019 and 2020 respectively), it can be presumed that if these parameters were not
aligned, the administrative burden would be higher.
6.3. Monitoring parameters
In the light of the feedback from the online public consultation, streamlining the
parameters is a priority for the shipping sector.
The two systems use slightly different definitions of some parameters such as “distance
travelled” and “time spent at sea” or “hours underway”, which can be easily harmonised.
Alignment on these definitions would have no significant environmental, social or
economic impacts. It would simply facilitate convergence between the systems, resulting
in reducing the administrative burden. Several stakeholders favour streamlining
monitoring parameters such as “distance travelled” or “hours underway”.
Nevertheless, one key parameter in the EU MRV Regulation differs from the one
required by the IMO DCS. The EU MRV Regulation requires monitoring actual cargo
carried in order to obtain accurate information on individual ship’s operational energy
efficiency. The IMO DCS, instead, uses a proxy (deadweight), which refers to the
carrying capacity of the ships.
The alignment of this parameter is firmly supported by the shipping sector, which prefers
reporting cargo capacity for reasons of simplification and confidentiality, whereas civil
society organisations and some EEA States, oppose replacing “cargo carried” by
“deadweight” because the former provides more accurate data on ships’ individual
energy efficiency, and, in their view, should not pose confidentiality problems due to the
aggregated nature of the publication of data. Those opposing the alignment of the "cargo"
parameter (i.e., NGOs) are of the view that, when using deadweight as a parameter, a
ship's operational efficiency metric does not differentiate an empty ship from a more
efficient one and thus there will be no incentive towards higher operational efficiency of
individual ships.
Indeed, using the carrying capacity instead of the cargo that ships actually carry provides
less accurate data on average energy efficiency. The alignment on the parameter of
“cargo carried” / “deadweight” may therefore have environmental and economic and,
indirectly, social impacts, in particular if the focus is on the improvement of individual
ships efficiency. The estimated 2% improvement in fuel consumption of the EU MRV
28
depends on a better knowledge of the ship’s real efficiency, which should trigger
measures resulting in less energy use. In this regard, both the estimated cumulative
emission reduction of 55.9 MtCO2 up to 2030 and the estimated economic benefits linked
to improving efficiency (€9.4 billion up to 2030) may not be maximized.
On the other hand, several operational energy efficiency indicators that do not use cargo
carried as a parameter have shown encouraging results25
. The reason being that when
using deadweight instead of actual cargo data to calculate energy efficiency of ships,
there is significantly less spread or scatter in the attained values and therefore, it is easier
to define a reference line and monitor the trends in energy efficiency.
Therefore, using 'deadweight' as a proxy for 'cargo carried' could still provide a basis for
analysis and information about the energy efficiency of ships, as it takes into account its
size and cargo carrying capacity. The use of such a proxy could already provide useful
information for the purpose of defining future policies and measures.
Consideration should also be given to the administrative burden for collecting and
reporting cargo carried information. Having the same monitoring parameters reported
under the two systems would significantly lower the administrative burden for the parties
having to collect such data.
It can be concluded that aligning the EU MRV Regulation with the IMO DCS on this
particular feature may limit, to a certain extent, the beneficial impacts of the current
approach particularly in terms of triggering efficiency improvements at ship level.
However, the IMO DCS parameter “deadweight” can still provide relevant information
for the design of future measures aiming at improving ships’ operational performance.
It should be noted that, once companies have started monitoring cargo carried, some may
chose continuing doing so on voluntary basis. In fact, part of the shipping industry has
shown interest to continue collecting those data and submitting them in order to set the
basis for efficiency improvements. Apart from “distance travelled”, “time spent at sea”
and “cargo carried”, the streamlining of other parameters does not need to be considered,
either because it has been discarded (ports of departure and arrival, CO2 emitted) or
because it is already similar (amount of fuel and emission factors).
The table below summarizes the main conclusions on the streamlining of monitoring
parameters.
25 Such are the Individual Ship Performance Indicator (ISPI) developed by the EC/EMSA (MEPC
submissions at MEPC 66 – MEPC 66/4/6) and the Annual Efficiency Ratio (AER) (proposed by Japan).
These parameters use fuel consumption and distance, and in the case of AER deadweight tonnage
(DWT). The pertinence of these indicators has been revalidated by an analysis by Norway (submitted to
MEPC 71 and the first meeting of the intersessional working group on the reduction of GHG from
ships– MEPC 71/7/1 and ISWG-GHG 1/2/1).
29
Table 6.1 Conclusions on streamlining monitoring parameters.
EU MRV Regulation IMO DCS CONCLUSION ON STREAMLINING
OF MONITORING PARAMETERS
Port of departure and
arrival
Not required. Aggregated
reporting. No obligation to
monitor per voyage.
Discarded. Linked to governance.
Parameter needed in EU MRV Regulation
to distinguish journeys to and from EEA
ports.
Amount and emission
factor for each type of
fuel
Required. Similar. Alignment not needed. Already similar.
CO2 emitted Not required (although it
can be obtained without
further monitoring with
the data on fuels and
emission factors)
Discarded. Essential parameter for the EU
MRV Regulation
Distance travelled Required. Different
definition.
Alignment can be easily achieved.
Time spent at sea Required. Different
definition.
Alignment can be easily achieved.
Cargo carried Different parameter
(deadweight, which refers
to cargo capacity).
Actual cargo date would be missed, but
deadweight also provides useful
information. Alignment would reduce
administrative burden, and it is considered
beneficial.
Transport work Not required Linked to cargo.
6.4. Monitoring plans and templates
The alignment of monitoring plans and templates would be a measure of formal /
administrative nature that would have no environmental, social or economic impacts.
However, it would importantly reduce the administrative burden for companies obliged
to report under both the EU MRV Regulation and the IMO DCS, as it would allow using
the same approach and similar documents for both, when alignment is possible.
6.5. Verification
The EU MRV Regulation requires mandatory third party verification in order to ensure
the accuracy of the data submitted. It uses a specific verification system based on
internationally agreed ISO standards and EU specific verification rules. Furthermore, EU
MRV verifiers are accredited and subject to supervision by National Accreditation
Bodies. This regime is common to other economic sectors in the EU subject to MRV
requirements, including the power sector, the industry, aviation, it is already in place and
being applied in the EU (including to shipping through the EU MRV Regulation). The
mandatory verification also ensures consistency across States on the quality of the checks
carried out on the data and is therefore key to ensure the collection of robust data.
In the IMO DCS there is no specific verification system for this data collection. Instead,
flag Administrations shall verify the data according to national rules, taking into account
30
IMO guidelines. Flag States can outsource those tasks to “Recognised Organizations”
(RO), subject to verifications and audits under the RO Code. However, ROs do not need
to be accredited by National Accreditation Bodies. Note that, in accordance with the EU
legislation, EU MS have to use only EU recognised organisations in order to comply
with their reporting obligations under IMO DCS.
The alignment of this feature of the EU MRV Regulation with the IMO DCS rules would
mean that the EU verification system would be replaced by a system based on less
harmonised rules and departing from the concept of third party verification.
Such a change could potentially affect the accuracy and reliability of the MRV system,
entailing, possibly, a negative impact in terms of the environmental and economic
performance of the scheme. It could also negatively affect the development of future
climate policies, which should rely on solid data.
It should be noted that verification cost turned out to be significantly lower than
estimated in the 2013 impact assessment (€4500), in the order of below €1000 (according
to industry sources, albeit the estimates vary). This is similar to the costs of about 1 or 2
tons shipping fuel.
The outcome of the online public consultation shows that almost all stakeholders agree
with the need to ensure high quality data and a level playing field. Representatives of the
shipping sector showed concerns about the cost of verification; although aligning
verification rules with the IMO DCS ones seems not to be a priority for the sector.
6.6. Transparency
Similar to other sectors, the EU MRV Regulation includes the publication by the
Commission of annually reported aggregated data on a "per ship" basis (without
differentiating between journeys). This level of transparency was considered one of the
key objectives of the EU MRV Regulation. In contrast, the IMO central database will
only include anonymous datasets without the possibility to identify individual ships and
will only be accessible to IMO Member States26
strictly for their analysis and
consideration . The data will not necessarily be made available to the public.
The alignment in this case would mean that the data reported under the EU MRV
Regulation, i.e. information on the CO2 emissions and the energy efficiency of individual
ships, would not be available to stakeholders and to the public.
The 2013 impact assessment found that disclosure of "per ship" aggregated energy-
efficiency information and robustness of comparable over time data would be the most
important elements under the EU MRV Regulation to address the market failures
hampering energy efficiency improvements in the sector.
As said, the regular publication of per-ship energy efficiency information was found to
be one of the key elements to overcome market barriers and reach the estimated 2%
improvement in fuel consumption (bringing positive environmental impacts in terms of
CO2 emission reductions (cumulative 55.9 Mt up to 2030), black carbon emissions
(which are important short-lived climate forcers) and air pollutants such as SOx, NOx
and particulate matter (impacting human health). To this end, both the collection of data
on a per ship basis and their publication in a transparent form are instrumental to the
objectives being pursued. Removing transparency would remove incentives to enhance
26 Parties to MARPOL Annex VI.
31
efficiency and reduce fuel use, loosing, at least partially, the social, environmental and
economic benefits of the EU MRV Regulation.
Furthermore, the harmonization with the IMO DCS on transparency would not mean any
gain in terms of reducing the administrative burden, as the publication does not affect the
monitoring and reporting obligations.
Keeping the EU MRV levels of transparency is fundamental for most categories of
stakeholders (citizens, NGOs, academia, verifiers, etc.), with the shipping sector being
more sceptical about its usefulness. In any case, harmonising this feature of the EU MRV
is not a priority for the sector (especially in the case if actual cargo carried is not to be
reported).
6.7. Impacts on SMEs
The EU MRV Regulation applies to ships above 5000GT. This threshold excludes
around 99% of maritime transport SMEs from the scope of the regulation, as estimated
by the 2013 impact assessment.
32
7. HOW DO THE OPTIONS COMPARE?
7.1. Comparison of options
As seen in the previous section, some features of the EU MRV Regulation can be aligned
with those of the IMO DCS ones without compromising the environmental, social and
economic benefits to be delivered by the existing EU legislation. Aligning some of the
features would have a positive impact in terms of reducing the administrative burden
linked to the existence of the two systems. However, aligning some other features would
reduce the improvement in energy efficiency of the shipping sector that the EU MRV
Regulation is expected to deliver and undermine its main objectives. That would mean
that less CO2 emission reductions would be achieved, and lower economic gains
associated with lower fuel consumption would be attained.
When comparing the options we can conclude that:
 Under Option 1 (Baseline) the positive environmental and social impacts identified
by the 2013 impact assessment are maintained. The 2% reduction in fuel
consumption results in the cumulative avoidance of 55.9 Mt CO2 by 2030. In parallel,
there is a reduction in emissions of air pollutants such as SOx, NOx and particular
matter, which results in social benefits is terms of a reduced impact on human health.
Finally, the expected economic impact of saving €9.4 billion up to 2030 as a
consequence of lower fuel consumption would also be delivered. This option would
meet the operational objectives related to reducing shipping emissions, enhancing
cost-effectiveness and maintaining a level playing field. However, it would fail on
achieving a streamlined implementation of the two systems. It would result in a
somewhat higher administrative burden27
, related to the definition of some basic
parameters such as “distance travelled” and “time spent at sea” or “hours underway).
 Under Option 2 (Streamlining), the positive impacts of the current EU MRV
Regulation can be maintained if some key features are kept unchanged. In the light of
the assessment in section 6, “scope”, “verification” and “transparency” are the three
key alignment candidates that most impact the effectiveness of the scheme. Aligning
on those elements would risk jeopardising the objectives of the EU MRV Regulation.
On the other hand, streamlining the definitions, monitoring parameters and
monitoring plans and templates reduces the administrative burden associated with the
co-existence with the IMO DCS without putting at risk the estimated positive impacts
of the current legislation. While the alignment of the monitoring parameter “cargo
carried” / “deadweight” could result in lower efficiency gains, it has benefits in terms
of reducing administrative burden for companies although MRV costs are already
considered very low. Based on these different elements, the alignment of this
parameter has been proposed.
 Under Option 3 (High Convergence), the changes in terms of “scope”,
“verification” and “transparency” would significantly undermine the expected
environmental, social and economic benefits of the EU MRV Regulation as shown in
the analysis of option 2. In short, although this option might lead to more significant
27 The administrative burden of the EU MRV was, nevertheless, estimated as very low by the 2013 Impact
Assessment. In cases where ship-owners and ship operators do not yet apply fuel monitoring of their
emissions, it was estimated at €26.1 million per year for ships above 5000 GT. This represents 0.28%
of the average operational costs (excluding fuel costs). The 2013 Impact Assessment also mentions that
many ship-owners have already adopted highly sophisticated MRV standards and will have no
difficulty complying.
33
reduction in administrative burden compared to option 2, it would reduce or supress
the incentives to overcome market barriers and get the efficiency improvements
pursued through the EU MRV Regulation. Furthermore, because less detailed and
possibly less accurate data would be obtained, the EU and Member States would face
limitations to develop future policies to address shipping emissions. This would
compromise the EU strategy to tackle these emissions, based on a progressive
approach where the EU MRV is only a first step. This option would better deliver on
the operational objective of ensuring a harmonious implementation of the EU and the
IMO schemes, but would fail on meeting the objectives related to reducing emissions
and improving cost-efficiency.
7.2. Preferred option
In the light of the comparison above it can be concluded that an approach where, under
Option 2 (streamlining), some selected parameters (in relation to definitions, monitoring
parameters and monitoring plans and templates) are streamlined delivers, largely, on all
the aspect of the operational objective identified in section 4. This partial alignment
achieves, where considered appropriate, a reduction of the administrative burden and
associated costs of an EU MRV Regulation being applied in combination with the IMO
DCS, while, at the same time, it preserves most of the positive impacts estimated by the
2013 impact assessment by not aligning features such as scope, verification and
transparency.
Compared to this approach, Option 1 means a higher administrative burden for affected
entities plus monitoring and reporting of slightly different data under two separate data
collection systems, as some definitions are not aligned between IMO DCS and EU MRV
Regulation.
As regards option 3, it clearly puts at risk the positive impacts of the EU MRV
Regulation. On Option 3 notably, for verification we would give up data reported by
shipping companies to be verified by a verifier accredited via Regulation 2016/2072.
This independent verification system is a well-established system in the EU to ensure
robust and reliable data, and insisting on ISO standards guarantees the robustness of data,
a principle well-guarded in the larger Paris Agreement, aside of the general EU
obligations to use ISO standards when available. No independent standardised
verification is required under the IMO DCS.
In particular, the information on EU emissions from ships sailing under a non-EU flag
would be missed, which could amount to half of the EEA related emissions. Regarding
transparency, the foreseen benefit of having energy efficiency data available at ship level
to incentivise the uptake of such measures, would be lost, as no such data will become
available via the IMO DCS system. This was an important part of the considerations
given in the 2013 impact assessment, namely that ship-owners, ship operators and
charterers may not be aware of the energy efficiency of a ship, and are therefore not able
to compare this energy efficiency amongst other ships or are not aware of technologies
delivering cost-effective emissions reductions. The political agreement between the
institutions confirmed the importance to retain this aspect with the adoption of the EU
MRV Regulation in 2015.
Consequently, Option 3 is discarded and Option 2 (streamlining), as described above, is
considered as the preferred option.
This is also in line with the priorities expressed by most stakeholders on the online public
consultation, where there was wide consensus on aligning technical aspects, with the
34
streamlining of monitoring parameters being the main priority for the shipping sector. At
the same time, it keeps the EU MRV approach on verification and transparency, in line
with civil society, academia, citizens and Member States interest to collect and publish
reliable data that raise awareness on emission reductions, contribute to address market
barriers and improve efficiency and provide a solid basis for informed policymaking.
The most sensitive element of this option is the alignment of the monitoring parameter
“cargo carried” / “deadweight”, where also stakeholders’ views are split, with civil
society organisations opposing to it and the shipping sector being strongly supportive.
Aligning this element helps to reduce the administrative burden and it is considerate
appropriate. In any case, some entities that had already started reporting cargo carried
under the EU MRV might be interested in continuing reporting cargo carried. This
should not be prevented. For this reason, it is proposed to allow entities to report cargo
carried on voluntary basis.
35
Table 7.1. Summary table: assessment of impacts from the alignment with IMO DCS
rules per feature
The following table provides succinct conclusions on the impact (positive, negative,
neutral) of fully aligning the EU MRV rules to the IMO DCS rules on the different
features assessed:
Alignment with
IMO DCS
Impacts
Scope Definitions Monitoring
parameters
Monitoring
plans/
templates
Verification Transparency
Environmental,
economic and
health impacts
Negative:
domestic and
in-port
emissions not
covered
Neutral: no
impact on
the
effectiveness
of EU MRV
regulation
Slightly
negative:
actual
information
on ships
efficiency
missing
because
ships not
reporting
cargo
carried, but a
useful proxy
(deadweight)
is collected
Neutral: no
impact on
the
effectivene
ss of EU
MRV
regulation
Negative: less
harmonised
verification
rules departing
from the
concept of third
party
verification
could possibly
lead to less
reliable data
Negative:
lack of public
information
reduces
incentives to
improve
efficiency
Administrative
burden
Neutral: more
ships
categories to
report their
emissions but
not for
domestic
voyages and in
ports.
Positive:
same entities
report
according to
the same
timelines
under both
systems
Positive:
same
parameters
are
monitored
under both
systems
Positive:
same
templates
and plans
are used to
report
under both
systems
Slightly positive:
double
verification not
needed
Neutral: not
publishing the
data does not
reduce the
administrative
burden
Summary:
The analysis that has been undertaken, as summarised in the table above, shows that
streamlining elements like the definitions, the monitoring parameters and the monitoring
plans and templates contributes to reducing the administrative burden for shipping
companies, facilitating compliance with the reporting obligations under the two systems.
At the same time, this does not jeopardise the objectives pursued by the current EU MRV
Regulation and its projected positive impacts. Conversely, aligning aspects such as
scope, verification or transparency (and governance) would severely affect the objectives
pursued by the EU MRV Regulation, while not contributing to reducing the
administrative burden (except to some extent in the case of verification).
36
Consequently, Option 2 (Streamlining) should be the preferred option, and elements such
as definitions, the monitoring parameters and the monitoring plans and templates should
be aligned as appropriate.
37
8. MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The Impact Assessment carried out in the context of the Proposal for the 2015 EU MRV
Regulation proposed five indicators to monitor and evaluate the progress made towards
the reduction of GHG emissions from maritime transport. The ones valid for this
alignment proposal are:
a. Annual CO2 emissions from maritime transport within the EU scope (on a per
ship and fuel consumption basis);
b. Annual CO2 emissions from maritime transport compared to the annual
maritime transport activity of the EU (in tonnes-nautical miles);
c. Annual turnover of European shipbuilders, equipment manufacturers and
services providers of the shipping sector;
d. Number and percentage of ships that are monitoring and reporting their
emissions in line with the regulation compared to the number of ships calling
into EEA ports.
It furthermore indicated that these indicators should be calculated on an annual basis
based on data from relevant European Agencies provided by the Competent Authorities
and that the functioning of measures for monitoring and reporting of emissions as well as
for internalisation of climate externalities and any potential revenue recycling should be
reviewed periodically.
The first and second indicators are data collected as part of the monitoring and reporting
requirements. They aim to ensure that the objective to reduce the impact of EU shipping
emissions on climate through a reduction in CO2 emissions from maritime transport by at
least 40% by 2050 compared to 2005 levels as put forward in the 2011 White Paper on
Transport Policy28
is fulfilled. The third indicator aims to ensure the objective to promote
technological improvement of ships and to improve the competitiveness of maritime
supply chains of the EU by supporting continued innovation of the European
shipbuilders, equipment manufacturers and service providers of the shipping sector.
Regarding the fourth indicator, the number of ships that are monitoring and reporting
their emissions can be compared with the number of ships calling into EEA ports and
these numbers can be provided by EMSA using the Thetis MRV database. This indicator
aims to address compliance of the EU regulation by the shipping sector.
The monitoring and evaluation will be carried out in the context of the reporting of the
Commission on the implementation of the EU MRV Regulation. The EU MRV
Regulation obliges the Commission to publish by 30 June each year the information on
CO2 emissions reported as well as other relevant information (Article 21). The
Commission is also required to publish an annual report on CO2 emissions and other
relevant information from maritime transport. Furthermore, the Commission is also asked
to assess every two years the maritime transport sector's overall impact on the global
climate including through non-CO2-related emissions or effects.
As the monitoring and reporting required by the Regulation has only started in January
2018 and the first reports are due in June 2019, the monitoring and evaluation of
implementation of the Regulation is only possible after this date. In any case, the
monitoring and evaluation of the amended regulation will only be possible after the
28 Regulation (EC) 765/2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance
relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation (EC) 399/93
38
amended regulation has been adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, and
has entered into force.
39
ANNEX 1: PROCEDURAL INFORMATION
Lead DG Decide Planning internal references
The Directorate-General (DG) for Climate Action was leading the preparation of this
initiative and the work on the impact assessment in the European Commission.
Organisation and Timing
An inter-service steering group (ISG), chaired by DG Climate Action and the Secretariat-
General was established in May 2017 for preparing this initiative. The ISG met four
times in the period from May 2017 to July 2018. The following Directorates-General
(DGs) were invited to participate in the work of the group: Secretariat-General (SG),
Legal Service (SJ), EEAS, DG GROW, DG MOVE, DG ENER, DG ENV, RTD, DG
REGIO, DG FISMA and DG TRADE.
An Inception impact assessment was published in June 2017.
An online public consultation took place from 7 September to 1 December 2017 (see
Annex 2).
Table 1.1. ISG meeting dates and topics of discussion as well as other consultations
Date Topics of discussion
10.05.2017 Context of the Commission proposal for a Regulation amending
Regulation 2015/757/EC timeline for adoption;
draft Inception Impact Assessment (IIA),
draft terms of reference for a study supporting the Impact Assessment,
draft Consultation strategy.
20.07.2017 Overview of the feedback received on the Inception impact Assessment
Presentation and last discussion on the terms of reference and the
consultation strategy
Discussion on the draft questionnaires for the public online consultation
07.12.2017 Overview of participation in the online public consultation.
Presentation of the outline and general sections of the draft IA: problem
definition and objectives of the IA; discussion on main policy options to be
developed by the consultants in the study supporting the impact
assessment.
06.06.2018 Update on recent developments and updated work plan; presentation of the
draft Impact Assessment (SWD), and its annexes (including Annex 2 on
the output of stakeholders' consultation activities).
40
External Expertise
Analysis supporting this proposal was undertaken via a study commissioned by DG
CLIMA.
The Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) of the European Commission assessed a draft
version of the present evaluation and issued its positive opinion on Friday, 13th
of July
2018. The Board made several recommendations to further improve the report. Those
were addressed in the revised report as follows:
RSB recommendations
Clarify the political
intention of Article 22
on revision with IMO
Add further clarification
on the greater UNFCC
framework and the role
of EU MRV
Add quantification on
impact of fishing boats
being outside of the
scope of MRV
Add quantification on
emissions relevant to the
EU region that would
not be covered in IMO
DCS
Provide more
information on the
administrative burden
Further explain the
reporting obligations
under both systems
Provide more details on
how energy efficiency is
covered in IMO versus
EU MRV
Explain better the
benefits of technical
alignment
Explain better the
effects and benefits of
transparency on energy
efficiency of ships
Burden and cost
information from the
Modification of the report
Text added to the Introduction
Additional clarification introduced in
section 1.1
Quantification added to section 6.1
Quantification added to section 2.2
Additional context provided in section
6.5
Further details added to section 2.1.1
Further details on SEEMP added to
introduction, additional detailing in
section 2.1.2 and 7.2
Explanation added to 7.1 and 7.2, and 2.2
Explanation added to 7.2
Throughout the document
41
original 2013 impact
assessment should be
added
Interlinkage between
IMO and EU system
should be better
explained
Importance of a robust
verification system
should be further
clarified
The options and
difference between the
options should be better
described
Figure added to Annex 5, plus reference
in text in 2.2
Explanation added to 7.2
An improved table was added to section
5, plus additional detailing in section 7.1
and 7.2, and a new table in Annex 3
The report should
explain upfront that the
IMO system cannot
replace the EU MRV
without undermining the
purpose of the MRV
Revised introduction
42
ANNEX 2: SYNOPSIS REPORT
Stakeholder consultation activities
INTRODUCTION
The Commission has actively engaged with stakeholders throughout the impact
assessment process in line with the consultation strategy.
This Annex provides a summary of the outcomes of the stakeholder consultation
activities, analysis of the range of stakeholder groups that were engaged in those
activities and a summary of the main issues raised. The objectives of the consultation
activities were to:
 Enhance Commission's understanding of stakeholders' and wide public views
regarding the way the global IMO DCS could be taken into account under the
MRV shipping legal framework
 Gather specialised input (data and factual information, expert views) from private
and public stakeholders' perspective so as to help to identify solutions fitting the
MRV shipping objectives.
CONSULTATION ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY
The consultation activities included:
 Feedback received in relation to the Inception Impact Assessment.
 A public on-line consultation between 8 September and 1 December 2017.
 A targeted e-survey organised by consultants during the period December 2017 -
January 2018.
OVERVIEW OF CONSULTATION ACTIVITIES
 FEED BACK TO THE INCEPTION IMPACT ASSESSMENT (IIA)
The Commission received 19 contributions further to the publication of the IIA in June
2017. A majority came from the shipping sector (12), which submitted common and, in
some cases, identical contributions. Some NGOs active in transport/environment (4),
European Accreditation EA (1), Class societies (1) and other associations (1) also
participated.
Views on the policy options and related potential impacts can be summarised as follows:
Full alignment: the shipping sector is the only sector largely supporting this option.
However a thorough reading of their contributions indicates that they support an
interpretation which amounts "to only IMO DCS should be in place" and that collection
and reporting of EU data has become redundant. Their main reasons are related with
reducing administrative burden and the future global action sparking new behaviours.
Partial alignment: a majority of the other respondents (NGOs, a class society and
European Accreditation) indicated that valuable shipping MRV elements (metrics for
operational efficiency, verification and publication) should be kept. Two NGOs called for
additional data or insights on likely impacts of these different elements.
Non alignment: one respondent chose this option invoking the need to ensure monitoring
and reporting of domestic" emissions and "emissions within EU ports".
These results were taken into consideration in order to design the questionnaire for the
on-line public consultation.
43
 PUBLIC ON LINE CONSULTATION (OPC)
Format and participation per stakeholder group
It consisted of six closed questions covering general objectives and more specific
shipping MRV objectives and its relation with its key aspects. Two final open-ended
questions enabled further comments or suggestions. Also almost a quarter of respondents
submitted positions or non- papers summarising their views29
.
Overall, 118 responses were submitted, mainly from stakeholders from EEA countries
(28 EU MS, plus NO and IC). Respondents from Greece (19), Belgium and the United
Kingdom (12 each) formed the largest groups. Ten per cent of respondents (12) were
from countries outside of the EEA.
Participation of stakeholders' groups can be summarised as follows:
 Shipping sector: It is the quantitatively prevalent group with slightly over 50
per cent of respondents from shipping companies or individuals working for
them (32), (most of them from Greece have submitted very similar, if not
identical, answers), and from industry associations (28). A high level of
coordination has been found in the answers of this group.
 EEA States/non-EEA Flag administrations: its participation is also
significant (14), with 11 EEA national administrations, plus a consortium of
EEA local and regional public entities and also 2 non-EEA States;
 Civil society organisations/NGOs (11): includes non-lucrative organisations
active in environment and transport and also EU /non- EU trade unions;
 EU MRV verifiers and Classification Societies: (7) includes MRV
independent verifiers, its associations (5) plus classification societies (2)
 Providers of monitoring and reporting technology or consultancy
services (7);
 Accreditation Bodies (4): European Accreditation plus two NABs (one not
providing accreditation for MRV activities) and a non-EEA accreditation
body.
 Research/academia (4).
 Citizens (7): only seven respondents have qualified as "individual/citizens
replying in their personal capacity" - the rest given their professional profile
and in some cases the high level of coordination in their answers in the case
of the shipping sector, have been considered as part of the above groups.
 Other actors: 2 respondents represent ports and their associations.
29 required under Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013.
44
Summary of input to OPC
a) Policy objectives Sector's contribution to the Paris mitigation objectives
The statement on a fair contribution of the sector to the climate goals of the Paris was
largely supported by majority of the respondents from all groups. However a relatively
important share of the shipping sector and in particular its professional associations (12)
opted for a "don't know” answer.
b) Specific policy objectives to be taken into consideration when assessing MRV
amendments
Stakeholders were asked to specify the degree of importance they attached the following
four objectives, in the view of assessing likely amendments to the EU MRV Regulation:
1) providing company-internal tools raising awareness on emission reduction
opportunities and triggering action at company level;
2) providing robust information to the markets on ships' fuel consumption and energy
efficiency;
3) collecting transparent data for informed policy making, and
4) reducing administrative burden for ships performing EEA-related maritime
transport.
On the one hand, civil society organisations, Accreditation bodies and Research
citizens/individuals overwhelmingly support the three-wide ranging objectives (letters a,
b, and c) while letter d is considered as "not important/somehow important"
Conversely, the shipping sector and non-EEA Flag Administrations consider reducing
administrative burden as a very important one while the other three wide ranging
objectives are considered relatively important objectives.
As a middle ground, EEA MS and EU MRV verifiers widely support the three wide-
ranging EU objectives, (in particular EEA MS "collecting transparent data for further
informed policy making" (letter c) appears as "very important"). They also support
"lessening administrative burden," as an important objective, but not to the same extent
as the shipping sector.
c) Ranking key areas for amendment in light of the objectives pursued
Stakeholders were asked to rank five key areas where amendments to the EU MRV
Regulation could be considered: a) scope, b) monitoring parameters, c) verification
approach and specificity of the rules applicable; d) transparency/ public access to data
collected and e) monitoring and reporting processes (including templates).
The shipping sector considered "Monitoring parameters" followed by "Monitoring and
reporting processes" as their highest priority. Under this assumption, verification,
transparency and scope ranked lower.
MRV verifiers/RO have quite mixed views: with some of them ranking "Monitoring
parameters" and "monitoring mechanisms" and others ranking "Verification" as their
highest priority, probably with a view to ensure mutual recognition of those performing
45
verification. In any case, "transparency/publication of data" ranks as their lowest priority
for amendment.
EEA MS/Flag Administrations ranked higher "scope" but limited to IMO DCS
definitions followed by "Monitoring processes (incl. templates) while "per-voyage"
monitoring shall be maintained," Monitoring parameters", "verification" and
"transparency" rank lower in any case.
Civil society organisations rank higher "Monitoring processes" followed by "scope",
"verification" and "transparency". In their contributions, they objected to taking into
account "Monitoring parameters" and especially "cargo carried".
MORE DETAILED VIEWS on the different elements were provided through a number
of questions.
 On operational energy efficiency business decisions and political decision
making”/parameters to be monitored and reported
The questionnaire contained three statements and asked participants to indicate their
support for them.
i) “Operational energy efficiency is relevant for business decisions and political
decision making"
 Civil society organisations, EU MRV verifiers and other stakeholders groups (in
particular those working on the policy side) "fully agreed" or "tended to agree"
with this statement.
 The shipping sector is somehow divided on this issue: while industry
associations was more reticent, a relatively majority of ship owners/managers
were "fully agreeing" or "tending to agree" with this statement.
ii) "EU MRV should use "cargo capacity" instead of ‘cargo carried"
 Shipping sector: the majority of the respondents of this group favour this option.
 Around half of EEA MS/Flag administrations also welcome this idea.
 MRV verifiers, service providers, accreditation bodies, research and academy
and citizens don’t have a firm stance about this issue, with a relatively share of
them opting for the “don’t know” option.
 A majority of civil society organisations fully disagree with this statement.
iii) EU MRV should use ‘IMO DCS parameters ‘distance travelled over ground’ and
‘hours underway’
 A large majority (84) of respondents across all the stakeholders groups agreed
on the value of taking into account the IMO DCS parameters of "distance
travelled over ground "and "hours underway", instead of 'distance travelled' and
’time spent at sea".
 The shipping sector and Member States/Flag administrations were especially
explicit about this. Also a majority of independent MRV verifiers and service
providers were “fully agreeing"/"tending to agree’ with this option.
 The rest of the groups seem not to have a clear position: civil society
organisations have a less strong position that in the case above with half fully
agreeing/ tending to agree and half in favour of the “don’t know” option.
Citizens/individuals are also split. Finally a majority of national accreditation
bodies and ports stakeholders opt for the “don’t know option”.
46
 On verification
The questionnaire contained three statements and asked participants to indicate their
support for them.
i) On the role of MRV verification in guaranteeing data quality and level playing
field for ships and companies
Almost all respondents either fully agreed or tended to agree with the general statement
that MRV should ensure both quality plus equal level playing field no big differences can
be signalled in terms of stakeholders' groups.
ii) On the benefits of robust and verified data against its costs estimated at 500 euros
per year
The shipping sector is the group with the highest level of disagreement on this particular
statement, but without a unanimous view on the issue. A majority (18 out of 29) of ship
owners/managers tend to disagree, whereas their professional associations seem not to
have a firm opinion or insights into this.
On the other hand, MRV verifiers/RO, Accreditation bodies, citizens/individuals and
researchers fully agree/tend to agree, almost unanimously, that the benefits are justified
by the verification costs. Also civil society organisations fully agree/tend to agree with
this assessment and consider third party verification critical to ensure the quality of
reported emissions data while it represents an insignificant additional operating cost
which cannot justify weakening the MRV approach.
EEA MS/Flag administrations, by a small majority, also support this statement.
iii) Who should perform verification under the EU MRV Regulation?
Stakeholders appear divided in relation to who should perform verification
 37 respondents indicated a preference for EU Recognised Organisations (RO)
performing verification according to specific rules,
 33 respondents prefer verification to be performed by independent verifiers,
 12 opted for Port State Controls Officers carrying out in-depth inspections for
MRV shipping according to specified rules,
 11 participants chose "Other”.
A small share of the Shipping sector (6) indicated in a clearly coordinated manner that no
verification EU level was necessary as "only IMO DCS should be in place".
 Transparency of data collected
i) Is publication of environmental information on CO2 emissions of individual ships
relevant for the public?
A majority of stakeholders groups considers that publication of environmental
information on CO2 emissions of individual ships is relevant for the public.
 In particular civil society organisations, citizens/individuals and research and
academy, EU MRV verifiers, National Accreditation Bodies and service
providers, EEA MS /Flag administrations fully agree or tend to agree with this
statement.
47
 On the other hand, the shipping sector is quite sceptical in particular ship-
owners/managers: 20 of the 29 ship owners / managers fully disagree with this
statement. Industry associations are less negative: 13 out of 24 fully disagree
ii) Does transparency of technical and operational efficiency of ships help markets'
actors to take informed decisions?
A majority of stakeholders (65) "fully agree/tend to agree" with this statement.
The shipping sector replies are the most reticent ones, while there seem to be some
nuances as industry associations “fully disagree" and "ship owners / managers, "tend to
disagree" on the usefulness of this information for markets as they fear distortion of
competition.
Other aspects, information, comments or suggestions
At the end of the questionnaire, stakeholders could identify relevant issues areas/aspects
or add further information, comments or suggestions.
Some suggestions are clearly out of the scope of the OPC: independent MRV verifiers
willing to be recognised as RO under IMO DCS, a NGOs requesting inclusion of other
shipping pollutants, including methane and black carbon, under the EU MRV Regulation
or those indicating that no EU monitoring reporting of EU related data should be in
place.
The most relevant for the study can be summarised as follows
EEA MS/Flag administrations submitted five position papers. A majority of EEA MS
supported the current approach on "cargo carried", "verification" and "transparency" as
pivotal aspects. They also supported that domestic shipping and in- ports emission are
kept under the scope of the EU MRV. Two other EEA MS prefer a closer approach to
IMO DCS for some of these elements.
Civil society organisations indicated a preference for delaying any amendment of the
MRV and leaving both schemes operate in parallel, as this could provide relevant views
on those elements needing modification. They support the current approach on domestic
shipping and in-port emissions and on actual cargo data as critical to calculate ship
operational efficiency. Finally, they supported third party verification to ensure the
quality of reported emissions data and transparency of "per ship" data, as a key element
to improve efficiency.
48
 E-SURVEY
Stakeholder sample and respondents
A total of 58 survey responses (out of sample of 150) were received. The majority of
responses (34) came from the shipping sector and particularly its professional
associations Also independent MRV verifiers (7) participated on a large scale. Member
States (4), NGOS (4) and accreditation bodies (4) participated as well.
Output and qualitative analysis
The following conclusions can be stressed:
Scope, in terms of ship size, and definitions (e.g.: companies, "at berth" versus "at sea")
were considered important.
Monitoring parameters have been considered essential to the goal and intent of the
schemes.
Technical adjustments ensuring a common and harmonized approach would reduce
administrative burden related to the coexistence of two schemes.
Verification rules and processes were not necessarily a priority area, while ensuring
competent verifiers at a reasonable costs was important.
Accreditation: using the same process for both schemes was considered somehow
important.
Transparency was not deemed as important element once alignment of the monitoring
parameter cargo carried is taken into account.
Reduction of administrative burden will result from closer approaches in terms of
definitions, monitoring parameters and reporting and verification processes.
 “AD HOC” CONTRIBUTIONS
Four “ad hoc” contributions were received outside the formal consultation context.
 Two professional associations submitted identical responses indicating that
collecting a separate set of data under an EU system was unnecessary;
 Another professional association of ships carrying out activities currently
excluded supports maintaining the current scope for the EU MRV for a
transitional period;
 One consortium of regional and local authorities praised the objectives of the
MRV shipping in its current design.
49
ANNEX 3: WHO IS AFFECTED
Who is affected? How are they affected?
The shipping industry
(high interest).
Ship-owners as well as other parties having assumed
the responsibility for the operation of the ship and
their European are to monitor and report on a ship
basis both the EU- MRV shipping and the global
IMO DCS. Companies need to collect and report
data for each of the ships they operate calling at
European Economic Area (EEA) ports since 1st
January. From 2019 onwards, a largely similar
sample of ships (EU flagged and Non EU flagged)
will be requested to report on their global activities
to their Flag Administration pursuant to IMO DCS
and on their EEA related voyages to the Commission
pursuant to MRV (via THETIS MRV)
Other actors of the shipping
sector (as cargo owners,
logistics companies and
ports) (high interest)
Reducing and compensating their carbon footprint
and stimulating energy efficiency in maritime
transport is part of these actor's priorities.
EU ports have an interest in having CO2 emissions
monitored, collected and published.
EEA Member States: MSs have a continuous interest in receiving their
ships' verified annual report for their EEA voyages
as this will facilitate MS' verification and collection
tasks under IMO DCS. MS will ultimately be
responsible for enforcement under both schemes
(either as flag States as a port States).
EEA MS acting as flag States will have a major role
for their own ships under IMO DCS, which entails a
considerable administrative burden.
Third countries flag States are involved in the implementation of IMO DCS and
will receive EU related data from their ships.
International organisations dealing with transport and climate change e.g
International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and various United Nations bodies,
World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development, International Energy
Agency, etc, have a moderate interest.
Regional and local
authorities
(moderate interest).
Especially from regions and cities whose
communications rely on maritime transport services,
may also be interested.
National accreditation bodies
(high interest).
Are affected as responsible for providing
accreditation under the MRV shipping
50
Civil society groups
(high interest).
Those actors addressing the environmental impact
from maritime transport e.g. academia, think tanks,
Environmental NGOs, shipping emission players
(developers of projects related to CO2 emissions and
energy efficiency for shipping) are interested in
climate change being addressed across the economy,
and in data from MRV.
Technology providers and
innovators such as ships
producer (robust fuel
consumption and emission data
should incentivize the
designing of more efficient
ships), marine equipment
companies and research bodies
These dealing with the development and provision of
marine equipment are indirectly affected to an extent
as they provide means to reduce emissions, increase
efficiency and support the monitoring of emissions
from ships
Citizens/General Public
(medium interest).
They have an interest in action being taken to tackle
climate change across the economy, with all sectors
contributing, as well as measures for collecting
robust data on maritime CO2 emissions and other
relevant information, as these affect their quality of
life and that of future generations.
On the other hand, having robust information on
maritime transport emissions concerns citizens as
customers of maritime transport services and
consumers of goods transported by ships.
51
Overview of administrative burden
MRV activities Administrative burden –
Baseline scenario
Administrative burden –
Preferred option (Option 2)
Verification activities Verification costs turned
out to be significantly lower
than estimated in the 2013
impact assessment (€4500
per vessel per year for
outsourcing verification
activities and all
corresponding processes).
According to industry
sources, albeit the estimates
vary, verification costs are
in the order of below
€1000.
The preferred option would
keep the verification costs at
their current relatively low
level.
Monitoring and Reporting
activities
In the 2013 impact
assessment, the
administrative burden of the
EU MRV was estimated at
€26.1 million per year for
11400 ships above 5000
GT. This is in cases where
ship-owners and ship
operators do not yet apply a
similar monitoring
approach.
According to the 2013
impact assessment, these
additional costs represent
only an increase of 0.28%
of the average operational
costs (excluding fuel costs).
In the preferred option, the
proposed revised definitions,
monitoring parameters, plans
and templates would reduce
administrative burdens.
However, the actual savings
would depend on the MRV
system installed in each
company and the nature of
their fleet. In addition, these
savings would apply to the
current monitoring and
reporting costs, which are low
in comparison to other
operational costs (of 0.28%).
52
ANNEX 4: MODELLING
This Impact Assessment relies largely on the outcomes of the one carried out in 2013
(SWD(2013) 237 final) accompanying the EU MRV Regulation. Quantitative impacts of
the EU MRV as assessed in 2013, are recalled in sections 6 and 7. It has not been
considered necessary to update those data by running the model again or carrying out a
new analysis, given the short time that has passed since the EU MRV Regulation was
adopted, and the fact that its implementation has started recently, not having yet provided
any data (with reporting obligations only starting in 2019).
The 2013 impact assessment used a model developed by AEA Technology based on the
TIMES model architecture. This model allowed an assessment of the costs of the
different policy options then considered, of the emissions abatement profile over time
and of the cost effectiveness (€ per tonne CO2 abated) of taking action on shipping
emissions. Additional areas of interest included the extent to which shipping routes may
change in response to policy action, the potential for modal shift as a policy response,
and the extent of in-sector abatement versus out-of-sector abatement. This model was
built on three building blocks: (i) a representation of shipping activity, (ii) a
representation of vessels and (iii) cost assumptions. Detailed information on this model
can be found on Annex VI of SWD(2013) 237 final.
On this basis, it should be noted that the scenarios that have been assessed in the current
impact assessment are all based on adjustments to the same policy instrument, the EU
MRV. The options that have been considered mean adjustments mostly of technical
nature, but do not alter the nature of the instrument used to address shipping emissions.
As a consequence, a refined quantification of impacts cannot be done through existing
tools. Therefore, this impact assessment takes the 2013 data as a point of departure, and
the additional analysis that has been undertaken is mostly of a qualitative nature.
53
ANNEX 5: COMPARING THE EU MRV REGULATION AND THE IMO DCS
The EU MRV Regulation has the objective of collecting CO2 emissions data from
maritime transport to inform policy-makers’ decisions on the need and type of further
action, if any. In addition, the EU MRV Regulation aims to encourage the uptake of
reduction measures through the publication of CO2 emissions and energy-efficiency
related data on a "per ship" basis, providing data on emissions in ports that can facilitate
their action, and providing a potential basis for future action as set out in the EU's 2013
Communication. The IMO DCS has the objective to collect data on fuel consumption,
and with this indirectly addresses CO2 emission data. Besides this, while the two systems
bear many similarities, some important design differences exist:
Firstly, in terms of scope, the IMO DCS applies to all international maritime transport
activities of ships of 5000GT and above. In contrast, the EU MRV Regulation covers not
only data from EU-related international voyages but also from domestic (as internal to a
MS) and emissions within EU ports and from ports from ships above 5000 GT. While the
EU MRV Regulation only applies to maritime transport activities (carrying cargo or
passengers or cargo for commercial purposes), whereas the IMO DCS comprises any
activity carried out by ships operating in the marine environment. There are also some
differences in terms of categories of ships covered as fish catching and processing ships
are covered by IMO DCS, but not under EU MRV Regulation.
In addition to the divergences in scope, some of the parameters to be monitored differ.
The EU MRV Regulation includes monitoring and reporting of “actual cargo carried” as
the basis to calculate average operational energy efficiency "per ship". Instead of "actual
cargo carried", the IMO DCS collects data on the “cargo carrying capacity”.
Furthermore, the two systems use slightly different definitions of the parameters
“distance travelled” and “time spent at sea”/ “hours underway”.
The definition of company is also a divergent point as the company fulfilling the MRV
obligations is to be determined on a case by case basis by parties involved. Under the
IMO DCS, its obligations go without exception to the one having assumed the SIM
obligations.
Allocation of monitoring and reporting obligations in case of change of shipping
companies is also different. Under the EU MRV Regulation shipping, submission of data
occurs annually by the company responsible on 31st
December in the form of an annual
emissions report. Under IMO DCS, reporting of aggregated data for segments shorter
than the calendar year, are possible in case of change of company. Moreover, the EU
MRV describes in details the minimum procedures to be part of the monitoring plan
templates, whereas the IMO DCS only provides for some general directions.
Furthermore, the verification methods diverge. Under the EU MRV Regulation, data
accuracy is guaranteed by third party verification taking place before submitting those
data to the flag State and to the Commission. It uses a similar but simplified verification
system as the one applied under the EU’s Emissions Trading System, based on
internationally agreed ISO standards and EU specific verification rules. Verifiers’
performance and competencies are supervised by National Accreditation Bodies (NABs)
in line with usual regulatory practices in the EU. Under IMO DCS flag Administrations
or its RO are to verify, in accordance with their national rules and taking into account
IMO guidelines, the data submitted by their ships.
Finally, as regards the publication of data and transparency. Similar to other sectors, the
EU MRV Regulation foresees public access to "per ship" annually aggregated reported
54
data on CO2 emissions and average energy efficiency. It will thus provide information to
stakeholders and the general public on CO2 emissions from EU related maritime
transport activities and create incentives for more efficient ships in the market. In
contrast, datasets under IMO DCS will be anonymized such that identification of
individual ships is not possible. Also, only IMO Member States will have access to this
data and no publication via the IMO DCS is foreseen. While this will enable IMO to
analyse global data on the GHG emissions from international maritime activities so as to
inform further the decision-making measures, if any, the uptake of emissions reduction
measures will not be incentivised in the absence of any peer review.
The next table provided by EMSA gives an overview of the main differences between the
two systems, where the figure aims to also indicate the synergies between the systems:
55
EU MRV Regulation IMO DC System
Scope Ships above 5000 GT
Voyages to/from & between EEA
ports
Monitoring Plan (MP)
1 January 2018
Ships 5000 GT and above
All International Voyages
SEEMP
1 January 2019
First monitoring period 2018 2019
Reporting responsibility Company responsible on 31 Dec Flag responsible for effective
period
Reporting Parameters Fuel consumption and CO2
Distance travelled
Time spent at sea
Cargo carried
Transport work - Distance × Cargo
Fuel consumption (CO2
derived)
Distance travelled
Hours under way
DWT (deadweight)
Transport work proxy (not
required) - Distance × DWT
Verification Independent Accredited Verifiers Flag Administrations or ROs
Governance European Commission & flag State Flag Administrations
Certification Document of Compliance (DoC) Statement of Compliance (SoC)
Transparency Distinctive - ship specific database Anonymous - aggregated ship
database
Disclosure Public Confidential (Parties
access/analysis)
56
Explanatory Figure: per voyage (indicated in orange) is not a reporting obligation under the EU MRV Regulation but
rather a monitoring obligation. Also, the SEEMP (MARPOL) is not reported, but contains energy efficiency parameters
that should be available on a ship. Abbreviation: NT: net tonnage; DWT: deadweight tonnage; GT: gross tonnage;
EEDI: energy efficiency design index; EIV: estimated index value.