ROMA, – The Fuel Decree-bis is moving towards final approval without introducing measures to support maritime transport, thus replicating the critical issues already highlighted in the first version of the measure. A choice that comes at a particularly delicate time for shipping companies, called upon to bear the increase in fuel costs while continuing to guarantee essential connections with the major and minor islands.
Assarmatori expresses strong concern over the exclusion of the sector, deemed penalizing for an industry considered strategic for the country’s economic and social system. According to the association, the lack of public intervention transfers onto shipping companies an economic burden that should instead be addressed through adequate support instruments.
Maritime transport, Assarmatori emphasizes, represents an indispensable infrastructure to ensure territorial continuity, citizen mobility, the supply of goods, and the stability of the tourism economy of numerous Italian regions. For this reason, the absence of dedicated measures in the Fuel Decree-bis is interpreted as a lack of attention towards the needs of island communities.
“This exclusion is incomprehensible – declares Stefano Messina, president of Assarmatori – The companies are not speculating: they are bearing extraordinary costs to continue guaranteeing regular, frequent connections at competitive prices, because the ship remains the cheapest means of transport to reach the islands. But one cannot expect the sector to absorb the impact of the fuel price increase alone, while other sectors are supported with public resources.”
The association also draws attention to the impact of the ETS, the European Union Emissions Trading System, which entails additional costs for the maritime sector within the framework of the ecological transition. According to Assarmatori, the mechanism generates an evident imbalance: companies contribute financially to the ETS system, but the resources collected are then used to finance interventions on fuels from which maritime transport remains excluded.
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“It is an evident short circuit – continues Messina – The maritime sector guarantees an essential service, supports the regularity of connections and the economy of the islands, pays the ETS, and then is excluded when interventions are distributed.”
For the association, the solution could be represented by the introduction of a specific tax credit, calibrated at least on a part of the documented extra fuel cost borne by companies engaged in essential maritime connections.
“We are not asking for preferential treatment. We ask for consistency and respect for a sector that every day keeps the islands connected to the rest of the country. We hope that the Government and Parliament will therefore demonstrate adequate sensitivity and not leave shipping companies alone to face the extra costs,” concludes the President of the Shipowners’ Association.
