EU watchdogs say anti-pollution maritime measures “fall short”

A report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) raises concerns about ongoing pollution in EU maritime waters caused by ships and vessels.

While EU legislation has strengthened over the years and is in some cases stricter than international regulations, the implementation by the 22 coastal EU member states remains inadequate.

Actions to prevent, monitor, address, and penalize various forms of ship-source pollution are still insufficient, the auditors warn.

EU laws incorporate relevant international standards—sometimes with even more stringent requirements—covering areas such as oil pollution, shipwrecks, and sulphur emissions.

However, gaps remain, particularly regarding pollution risks, which the EU still needs to address, according to the auditors.

For example, shipowners can still bypass their recycling obligations by switching to a non-EU flag before dismantling their vessels.

The statistics illustrate this issue: while one in every seven ships worldwide flew an EU flag in 2022, this proportion dropped by 50% for end-of-life vessels.

Similarly, EU regulations on lost containers at sea are not robust enough.

There is no guarantee that all container losses are reported, and only a small number of lost containers are ever recovered.

“Pollution at sea caused by ships remains a major problem, and despite a number of improvements in recent years, EU action is not really able to steer us out of troubled waters,”

said Nikolaos Milionis, the ECA Member responsible for the audit.

“In fact, with over three-quarters of European seas estimated to have a pollution problem, the zero-pollution ambition to protect people’s health, biodiversity, and fish stocks is still not within sight.”

The report also highlights that EU member states underutilize available tools—such as a network of standby oil-spill response vessels and drone detection—that the EU has provided to help combat ship-source pollution.

A key example is the European Satellite Oil Monitoring Service (CleanSeaNet), which is used for surveillance and early detection of potential pollution incidents. In 2022-2023, it detected a total of 7,731 potential spills in EU waters, with the highest numbers in Spain (1,462), Greece (1,367), and Italy (1,188).

However, the auditors found that member states responded to fewer than half of these alerts, and pollution was confirmed in only 7% of the cases. A major reason for this was the time lag between when the satellite image was taken and when the pollution was actually checked.

The report also notes that national authorities do not conduct enough preventive ship inspections, and penalties for polluters remain low.

Those responsible for illegally dumping polluting substances into the sea rarely face effective or deterrent penalties, and prosecutions are rare. Likewise, few member states report violations related to the retrieval of abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear.

Overall, the auditors conclude that neither the European Commission nor EU member states fully monitor the funds allocated to combat marine pollution.

There is no comprehensive assessment of the results achieved or how such efforts could be expanded on a larger scale.

Additionally, the audit reveals challenges in monitoring ship-source pollution. The actual scale of oil spills, chemical contamination, and marine litter from ships remains largely unknown, as does the identity of polluters.

Various types of vessels—including cargo ships, cruise ships, passenger ferries, fishing boats, and recreational craft—contribute significantly to seawater pollution.

They are responsible for oil spills, chemical discharges, improper waste disposal, gas emissions, lost containers, and abandoned fishing gear. The EU and its member states—22 of which have coastlines—are striving to combat ship-source pollution, with an ambitious goal of achieving zero pollution by 2030.

The report assessed EU efforts to tackle ship-source pollution between January 2014 and September 2024.

As part of the audit, visits were conducted in France and Germany, covering two key marine sub-regions—the Greater North Sea and the Baltic Sea—both of which form the world’s second-busiest shipping