The president of Confitarma at the Annual Assembly: “Decarbonization will require European investments of 40 billion euros per year until 2050”
Rome – The energy transition and the urgency of a structural reform of Italian ports stand as the ultimate test for national competitiveness. This is the core of the address by the president of Confitarma, Mario Zanetti, at the Annual Assembly. An event that sounds like an appeal to the Government to coordinate efforts to support a sector that generates an added value of over 216 billion euros.
The Confederation has chosen to shine a spotlight on the infrastructural and financial knots that are currently blocking the revival. On the fleet renewal front, Zanetti laid out figures that admit no delay: decarbonization will require European investments of 40 billion euros per year until 2050. The Italian shipping industry has already put 2.5 billion euros on the table for over 60 new ships, 80% of which are prepared for the use of alternative fuels. But private commitment is not enough. Confitarma denounced the failure of the Fleet Renewal Decree and has asked for a new tender that is finally consistent with market logic for all types of vessels. Furthermore, the need for a revision of the European Taxonomy is fundamental, the only way to unlock and channel the investments of the Pnrr and Pnc towards the sector, and to allow Italian bunkering companies to compete in the supply of new fuels.
The second critical front concerns ports and governance. To compete in the Mediterranean, Italy can no longer afford obsolete infrastructure. The Confederation has called for an acceleration of investments in cold ironing and the coordinated and uniform development of infrastructure to maximize efficiency. Beyond the physical works, the real turning point is in policy: a reform of governance based on a unified vision of the “country system” is needed, essential for creating an integrated and competitive port network. In this sense, the “Omnibus Package” is welcomed as an opportunity to streamline bureaucracy and lighten the administrative burden.
These structural problems clash with the broader and thornier issue of the energy transition. Europe, according to Zanetti, has chosen the wrong path: regional measures like the Ets and FuelEU Maritime generate “massive distortions,” pushing for the counterproductive modal back shift (the transfer of goods from ship to truck) and jeopardizing competitiveness. The Ets will burden Italian shipowners with over 600 million euros per year at full capacity. The greatest fear is that the imminent adoption of the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework could lead to an unacceptable double taxation for European companies alone. For this reason, the appeal is to support the IMO and to eliminate regional instruments. In addition, the Confederation requests the extension of Ets exemptions to Sicily and Sardinia, islands vital for territorial continuity, and the earmarking of Ets revenues in a fund dedicated to financing research and fleet renewal.
In parallel, national competitiveness depends on fiscal stability.
Confitarma celebrates the renewal, obtained for ten years, of the pillars International Register and Tonnage Tax, but asks for urgent clarifications on the uncertainties of the new regulatory framework to guarantee investment certainty.
Finally, the sector is moving in a geopolitical scenario made incandescent by the crises in the Red Sea and the risk of a maritime trade war. Zanetti highlighted how US tariffs on ships built in China could penalize up to 85% of new Italian constructions. The shadow of the Arctic Route pushed by China and Russia is also not ignored. In this context, the relaunch action passes through three concrete axes: a long-term industrial plan, targeted resources for the double transition (energy and digital) and a decisive regulatory simplification, pillars for charting a new and solid growth course for Italy.
The Confitarma Public Assembly, opened by the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, and by the video message of the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Fabio Rampelli, saw the participation of the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, the Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Edoardo Rixi, and the Deputy Minister of Justice, Francesco Paolo Sisto, as well as numerous representatives from the institutional, industrial and associative world. The heads of the Armed Forces with the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Enrico Credendino, the General Commander of the Harbour Master’s Corps – Coast Guard, Admiral Sergio Liardo, the Central Aeronaval Commander of the Financial Police, General Stefano Screpanti, and the Commander of the Air Force Command Rome, General Alberto Biavati, together with the President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, showed their closeness to Confitarma and the national shipping industry with important greeting addresses.
