On 1 October 2012, the European Commission announced that early next year it will put forward a proposal on a system for mandatory monitoring and reporting of fuel consumption in shipping. With fuel monitoring, the EU called a time-out in creating a regional emissions regime.
The Commission wants to use the monitoring system to gather factual information on fuel consumption and increase its influence in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) discussions on limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Originally, the Commission was to propose legislation on an EU-level regional greenhouse gas emissions regime for maritime transport during 2012. Due to on-going work at IMO level and doubts expressed regarding the regime, the Commission decided to propose the monitoring of fuel consumption before making more comprehensive decisions.
