Cyprus joins EU debate on shipping competitiveness and decarbonisation

Brussels, Belgium. Cyprus Shipping Deputy Minister Marina Hadjimanolis joined senior policymakers and industry leaders at Connecting Europe Days 2026 to discuss how shipping and ports can remain competitive while meeting energy, security and decarbonisation requirements.

Maritime sector in transition

Hadjimanolis took part in Tuesday’s high-level plenary, “Gateways to Europe and the World: Ports and the Maritime Sector in Transition”, following an official invitation from European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

The Shipping Deputy Ministry said she discussed geopolitical developments, the energy transition, competitiveness, resilience and decarbonisation alongside Irish Minister of State Timmy Dooley.

The European Commission said the plenary would examine the implications of its EU Ports Strategy and Industrial Maritime Strategy for maritime value chains and infrastructure. The discussion focused on strengthening industrial capacity and renewing the fleet while supporting climate objectives and Europe’s economic and security interests.

EU strategies and industry participation

The Commission adopted the two strategies in March as it moved from policy design towards implementation of a new framework for ports, shipping and maritime manufacturing. They aim to strengthen Europe’s maritime industrial base and reduce vulnerabilities linked to global competition, geopolitical tensions and reliance on shipbuilding capacity outside the EU.

The strategies emphasise fleet renewal, clean technologies, shipbuilding capacity, maritime security, digitalisation and access to finance. They also seek to prevent environmental requirements from weakening European operators’ international competitiveness.

Industry participants included Pierroberto Folgiero, chief executive of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri; Andonis Lemos, co-chair of ENESEL Group; Niels den Nijs, chief executive of Titan Clean Fuels; and Ansis Zeltiņš, chief executive of the Freeport of Riga Authority.

Scale of the sector

According to the Commission, European ports handle about 74 per cent of the EU’s external trade, or approximately 3.4 billion tonnes of goods a year. Almost 395 million passengers pass through them annually, and ports provide more than 423,000 direct jobs.

European-controlled shipping accounts for more than a third of global shipping tonnage across different market segments.