Warning signal for the GDP of Greek islands

A signal of danger for the GDP of the islands, emits a study by Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research-IOBE that was presented yesterday in the context of an event on “Going to Green Shipping”, organized by the Association of Passenger Shipping Companies (SEEN).

The study entitled “Impact of the “Fit for 55″ measures package on passenger shipping and island Greece”, estimates that the “green transition” will have a negative impact on island economies, with the greatest impact being recorded in the regions of South Aegean and Crete.

In particular, the impact on the GDP of the South Aegean is estimated at € 522 million in 2026 (8.2% of the region’s GDP), while the reduction of employment will reach 19 thousand jobs in 2026 or 16.1% of total employment in the region. Respectively, in Crete the impact on GDP is approaching € 96 million in 2026 (1.0% of the region’s GDP), with job losses estimated at 3.4 thousand in 2026 (1.5% of total employment Island’s).

A package of measures

The President of SEEN Mr. Spyros Paschalis underlined in his speech that the implementation of the Fit for 55 package is expected to have seven strong effects on passenger shipping and in particular:

–Increase operating costs for shipping companies by € 207 million in 2026

-Ticket charge up to 30% in 2026

-Reduction of transport by 5.4 million passengers by 2026 (-28%)

-Reduction of revenues of companies in the sector by € 183 million in 2026

-Development of GDP by € 903 million in 2026 (0.3% of Greece’s GDP)

-Reduction of tourism and tourist expenditure

-Loss of 29,600 jobs throughout Greece (island regions and mainland)

Mr. Paschalis also stressed that in order for Greek Shipping to proceed with Green Investment projects, its support from the state is vital.

Suggestions

He then went on to formulate five specific proposals:

-To satisfy multi-year institutional requests in order to improve the viability of Shipping companies

– To draw up a multiannual National Strategy for the decarbonization of Coastal Shipping with intermediate objectives, specific actions and central coordination

– Facilitate the financing of investments for the renewal of the fleet with low and zero emission ships:

a) in the form of grants for the green part of the investment,

b) with access to available financial instruments / Strong support of the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy is required in the requests for funding from the Fund for Recovery and Sustainability, the NSRF and the New Development Law

Establish a special fund under the European Structural and Investment Funds in order to reinvest revenues from the fund directly into the industry. The funds raised by this mechanism should be used directly for: subsidies for increased costs of alternative fuels, subsidies for fares through Transport Equivalent, subsidies for investment costs for energy efficiency technologies

-To accelerate the development of supply infrastructure with alternative fuels and electricity in the country’s ports