The EU will put on the table effective measures on capital requirements to ensure European banks have the tools to continue lending to European companies. The European Commission and Parliament is about to boost the resilience of banks operating in the Union and strengthen their supervision and risk management as they recognise the risk level associated with ship financing, and not only.
Last week, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted its position on the implementation of the latest Basel prudential requirements into EU law (Basel III).
In fact the Parliament has maintained the dedicated provision in the Commission’s proposal addressing ship financing under specialised lending.
European shipping and new investments can only remain competitive if regulatory and business conditions are in place for European banks to continue to finance shipping companies.
The European Community Shipowner´s Association (ECSA) has welcomed the outcome of the Committee’s vote, as it is crucial for European shipping to have access to competitive ship financing in the EU in order to maintain its competitiveness.
“Shipping is a cornerstone of European security – we move energy, food, trade. It is crucial for European shipping to have access to competitive ship financing in the EU in order to maintain its competitiveness. We welcome the Parliament’s vote, as this is a first step to ensure we can allow banks to continue financing shipping, particularly at a time when the industry moves to deliver on its decarbonisation objectives. We hope that the Council will support a similar approach as the negotiations progress” said ECSA Secretary General Sotiris Raptis.
The ECSA which represents 20 national shipowners’ associations based in the EU and Norway, believes these provisions are crucial to keep European shipping companies on equal footing with other jurisdictions when it comes to ship financing, in particular for the many SMEs who are facing difficulties to seek alternative finance outside of Europe.
It is worth mentioning that ECSA will continue to engage with the Commission, Parliament and Council as the final agreement is still negotiated.
