The EU’s view on the shipping crisis

Zoltán Kazatsay, Deputy Director General of the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy and Transport and presented "The European Union's View on the Shipping Crisis".
Kazatsay expressed his pleasure for taking part at the 11th Maritime Cyprus Conference in "a member state renowned for the importance of its fleet and of its long-standing involvement in maritime transport", as he said.
During his speech, he referred to the six strategic priority areas on which the Commission will act in the coming years. These include the maintenance of European shipping competitiveness; the reinforcement of the human factor; the establishment of European quality shipping as a trademark; reaffirming EU presence on the international scene; supporting Short Sea Shipping; and using the European research, technological development and demonstration framework programme in order to improve the competitiveness of EU shipping industry.
Moreover, Kazatsay refered to the actions aiming at a 'greener' maritime transport. He said the Commission will present a roadmap for the actions announced in the "Maritime Transport Strategy 2018" Communication to the stakeholders at a conference to be held in Copenhagen in February 2010.