EU shipbuilding ‘must resume’, says MEP

In the EU journal Parliament, Ferreira noted that after a decline in industrial activity since the 1970s, the region’s shipbuilding industry had become increasingly successful and dynamic in recent years. But he argued that the trend was “neither general nor uniform in all EU countries built upon a maritime tradition’” and that the importance of shipbuilding was often undervalued by the EU.

Historical importance is of particular relevance in Ferreira’s native country, where he noted that shipbuilding activity had declined dramatically “by 83%” since the 1970s. Ferreira – described as the ‘parliamentary rapporteur on tapping the potential of research and innovation in the blue economy to create jobs and growth’ – noted that two in every three shipyards in Europe had closed since then.

Ferreira said: “Industrial activity must resume and must be granted additional stimulus. It presents added value, and the bulk of the shipbuilding workforce, as well as merchant, cruise liner and naval fleets must be protected and built in European shipyards. This must be supported by clear and unequivocal legislative positions expressed by the parliament and commission, and which will have to focus on a number of points.”

A suggested five-point action plan includes financial support for the relaunch and modernisation of the industry; investment in research, development and innovation in ship construction and design; reinforcing existing specialisms in European member states; properly valuing and investing in the shipbuilding workforce; and, perhaps most contentiously, addressing profound imbalances between shipbuilding industries of member states.

“Obviously such imbalances are not exclusively to do with local authorities – national governments’ political orientation is frequently the determining factor,” said Ferreira. “Such is the case in Portugal, where the destruction of large, medium and small shipyards has reached a horrifying level, and where state-owned merchant shipping has been reduced to almost nothing.”