Study on EU ferries

The EU Maritime Transport System: Focus on Ferries

TRT has drafted an initial Briefing that provides the Members of the Committee on Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament with a clear overview of the EU Maritime Transport System, with a special focus on passenger ferries and the role they play in contributing to the multimodality of EU transport.

The Initial Briefing discusses new opportunities in the future development of the ferry industry in the EU (technical innovation and tourist promotion).

The specificities of the ferry industry are addressed considering history, size, growth, employment, performance of the industry, impact on environment, safety records, characteristics of the operations at different scale (urban, regional and national), possibility of integrated ticketing and competition with infrastructures (fixed links) and services (low-cost carriers).