Fiap: “The Parliament has indicated the source, now the government must transform ETS revenues into guaranteed resources for the islands”
Fiap (Italian Federation of Professional Road Hauliers) recalls that the resources available for the first year of Sea Modal Shift — the program that incentivizes freight transport on the Motorways of the Sea — amounted to 52.9 million against a requirement of approximately 240 million. A 22% coverage, which resulted in a proportional reduction of almost 80% on the unit contribution: from a maximum of 30 cents to just over 6 cents per vehicle-kilometer. For every five euros potentially recognizable, just over one euro was recognized to companies. This is certified by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in an official note dated June 15, 2026.
The reduction, explains Fiap, affects all beneficiaries, but for companies in Sicily and Sardinia the problem is structurally different. For road freight transport, the maritime connection is not an alternative: it is the only passage to reach the mainland. When the contribution drops to just over a fifth of the maximum, while freight rates and surcharges continue to rise, the differential remains almost entirely borne by the supply chain. Transport companies compress margins or transfer costs to the client.
Paying the consequences are the industrial SMEs and agri-food companies of the islands: higher costs, eroded margins, reduced competitiveness in national and European markets. Smaller companies, with more limited volumes and bargaining power, cannot compensate for this disadvantage through economies of scale. For fresh and perishable products, adds Fiap, the problem is not only cost: the frequency and reliability of connections determine the very possibility of reaching markets in time. Added to this are the ETS costs transferred by shipowners into freight rates, which increase the cost of the very mode that public policies declare they want to incentivize. With law no. 49 of April 10, 2026, the Parliament included Sea Modal Shift and Ferrobonus among the purposes that can be financed with ETS revenues. The regulation enables without yet financing: quantification, allocation and assignment acts are missing.
“The first year demonstrates that the measure was severely undersized — declares Alessandro Peron, general secretary of Fiap -. For a Sicilian or Sardinian company, the sea is not a choice: it is a condition imposed by geography. Losing competitiveness is not just road haulage: it is the entire island production system, from SMEs to agri-food supply chains. It is not about supporting a single sector, but about guaranteeing comparable competitive conditions for all companies that produce, process and transport from the islands. The Parliament has indicated ETS revenues as the right source. We ask the government to quantify and assign it, and to introduce a specific corrective measure for island routes. We ask the Regions of Sicily and Sardinia to support us in this direction, urgently promoting a supply chain table: Article 119 of the Constitution commits the Republic to removing the disadvantages of insularity. It is time to translate it into concrete policy”.
