Page 11 - European Energy Innovation - Autumn 2016 publication

Autumn 2016 European Energy Innovation
the shadow rapporteur’s should be
applauded on this specific file.
As an organisation, FEPORT has
supported the adoption of this
Regulation. As responsible operators,
FEPORT members realise that we
needed legislation to ensure that we
would have a systematic greening of
all port equipment via strict engine
standards. That being said, this does not
mean FEPORT did not have concerns
with the Commission’s initial proposal.
Within FEPORT, we believe that there
is a differentiation between concerns
and opposition. As an organisation, we
have looked to address these concerns
head-on in a pro-active manner with
other institutional actors and relevant
organisations.
As industries, it is important that
we adopt pro-active approaches to
environmental legislation because
additional costs of implementation
over a number of years may bring
profitability over the long term, but also
grant early movers a real competitive
advantage. On this file, not only
FEPORT, but other industries have
adopted such a view which allowed
for discussions to be carried out in a
constructive manner.
Environmental organisations must also
be applauded for adopting a pragmatic
approach that did not look to relegate
industry concerns to secondary status.
From FEPORT’s perspective, we found
all environmental organisations which
we discussed with to be open and
sympathetic to the real concerns which
industries raised.
In our view, the pragmatic and
proactive approach adopted by civil
society, joint with the diligent work of
the rapporteur, lead to the unanimous
support which manifested in the
European Parliament.
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11
PORTS
NEXT STEPS on building a viable solution that can
The Non-Road Mobile Machinery be supported by all actors. A divided
Regulation may be finally adopted, but civil society creates confusion amongst
we now need to ensure that the spirit policy makers and, ultimately, may be
of the regulation is carried through ignored or misinterpreted.
in implementation. For instance, the
regulation delegates to Member States As an organisation, FEPORT is
a number of transitional provisions. committed to supporting future
Member States have a responsibility to environmental initiatives that look to
ensure that these transitional provisions respect both environmental needs and
are introduced in as harmonised a the competitiveness of EU industries.
manner as possible. We are hopeful that our partners in civil
society will engage in discussions in a
For instance, most transitional proactive and cooperative manner and
measures are allowed for “up to” a that policy makers will follow the good
certain period of time, which Member examples set out during the legislative
States have authority to decide upon. cycle of the Non-Road Mobile
For instance, the regulation allows for Machinery Regulation. l
replacement engines to continue to
be placed on the market for up to 20
years. Member States need to ensure
that we do not end up with 28 different
transitional periods which would lead
to different engines classes being
available in different Member States,
which would go completely against the
idea of a European single market.
LESSONS LEARNT
The best way to ensure that there
is a broad consensus for the
implementation of legislation is an
open consultation process, as had
been the case with the Non-Road
Mobile Machinery Regulation. By
opening up to the views of those
directly affected by the legislation,
and taking these views on board in
the finalisation process, support can
be won across a civil society which can
also be better prepared for the impact
of said legislation.
That being said, civil society can only
be expected to have a guiding role
if it is willing to be proactive. All too
often, civil society can be accused of
being too reactive and negative, or too
dogmatic in its approach. Too often, the
emphasis is on “what can we achieve
for our sector” rather than focusing