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<p> </p><p>In the last eighteen months, there have been several meetings between officials
from the Department for Transport and their French counterparts to consider the effect
of the EU Directive on sulphur content of marine fuels on the shipping industry, jobs
and the environment. One of these meetings was a quadripartite meeting between UK
and French officials and representatives of the UK Chamber of Shipping and its counterpart,
the Armateurs de France.</p><p> </p><p>As a result of these discussions, the governments
of the UK and France have supported applications to secure EU finance under the Trans-European
Network (TEN-T) programme, and affordable capital through the European Investment
Bank, on the part of shipowners and ports which wish to invest in green technologies.
We have also obtained an assurance from the European Commission that it will meet
individual ferry operators who wish to discuss their ‘route to compliance' strategy.</p>
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