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European Boating Industry

EBI

European Boating Industry represents the recreational boating sector in Europe, including manufacturers, marinas, and tourism services.

Lobbying Activity

Boating industry calls for specific EU Taxonomy rules

2 Dec 2025
Topic — The initiative reviews the EU taxonomy environmental delegated act to update screening criteria.
Message — The industry needs clear rules separate from large shipping standards. They want environmental impacts measured across a boat's entire lifespan.123
Why — Tailored rules would reduce uncertainty and lower compliance costs for small manufacturers.4
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Meeting with Mohammed Chahim (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Nov 2025 · EU Recreational Craft Directive and the Circular Economy Act

Meeting with Eero Heinäluoma (Member of the European Parliament) and Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club e.V.

12 Nov 2025 · Water-based tourism

Meeting with Raphaël Glucksmann (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Nov 2025 · US tariffs

Meeting with Dirk Gotink (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Nov 2025 · Fourth Omnibus Package

Meeting with Jeannette Baljeu (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Nov 2025 · Industrial maritime strategy and tourism

Meeting with Karlo Ressler (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Nov 2025 · European and Croatian boating industry

European Boating Industry demands reduced VAT for nautical tourism

13 Oct 2025
Topic — The European Commission is revising VAT rules for the tourism sector.
Message — The group urges the Commission to allow reduced VAT rates for boat charters and marinas. They argue water-based accommodation should be treated the same as hotels and campsites.12
Why — Lower taxes would increase industry competitiveness and support thousands of European manufacturing jobs.34
Impact — Hotels and campsites would lose their tax advantage over nautical tourism competitors.5
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Meeting with Ana Xavier (Head of Unit Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs)

9 Oct 2025 · European boating industry: introduction and state of art of the EBI activities

Meeting with Daniel Attard (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

25 Sept 2025 · Sustainable Tourism Report, maritime and boating

Meeting with Chiara Galiffa (Cabinet of Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič)

24 Sept 2025 · EU – US relations

Meeting with Raluca Trasca (Head of Unit Taxation and Customs Union)

4 Sept 2025 · Exchange in the context of the ongoing public consultation on a VAT package for travel and tourism

Meeting with Arthur Corbin (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné), Ioan-Dragos Tudorache (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné)

2 Sept 2025 · Impact of EU-US trade deal and EU policy developments

European Boating Industry urges investment in marina fuel infrastructure

25 Aug 2025
Topic — The initiative establishes a framework to boost public and private transport decarbonisation investments.
Message — The industry asks the EU to prioritize alternative fuel access for boats. They also call for investment support to install charging and fuel infrastructure in marinas.12
Why — These investments would protect the European boating industry's jobs and global market leadership.3
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European Boating Industry urges clarity on digital safety rules

22 Aug 2025
Topic — A proposal to modernize EU product legislation by digitizing documentation and simplifying rules.
Message — EBI supports digitalizing documents but requests further clarification on what constitutes essential safety information. They also caution against using common specifications instead of established international standardization processes.123
Why — Digitalization would lower administrative costs and help companies meet sustainability goals.45
Impact — Global trading partners lose out if the EU diverges from internationally harmonised standards.6
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Response to Revision of the Standardisation Regulation

18 Jul 2025

The position of European Boating Industry (EBI) representing the European recreational boating industry can be found in the attached position paper.
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European Boating Industry Urges EU to Modernise Pleasure Ports

9 Jul 2025
Topic — The EU Ports Strategy defines priorities for port security, competitiveness, and energy transition.
Message — Marinas should be recognized in the EU Ports Strategy to support the nautical tourism sector. The industry seeks funding for greening and digital modernisation while demanding equal VAT treatment for water-based accommodation.123
Why — Improved infrastructure and tax fairness would help small boating businesses grow and remain competitive.45
Impact — Land-based accommodation providers would lose their current competitive tax advantage over boat-based tourism.6
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Response to EU industrial maritime strategy

8 Jul 2025

Please find attached the contribution of European Boating Industry (EBI) to the call for evidence on the Industrial Maritime Strategy. EBI represents the recreational boating industry in Europe. It encompasses all related sectors, such as boatbuilding, equipment manufacturing, marinas and service providers. The industry is a significant contributor to the European maritime industry, representing 32,000 companies, predominantly SMEs that employ over 280,000 people directly. The mission of EBI is to advance and represent a sustainable boating and nautical tourism industry #MadeInEurope.
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European Boating Industry urges support for nautical tourism sector

3 Jul 2025
Topic — The EU strategy promotes sustainable tourism to boost competitiveness and social cohesion.
Message — The group calls for mutual recognition of boater licenses to simplify travel. They request funding for marina modernisation and equal tax treatment.123
Why — This would lower administrative burdens and provide funding for infrastructure upgrades.45
Impact — Land-based accommodation providers would lose their current tax advantage over water-based rivals.6
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Meeting with Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

12 Jun 2025 · Recreational Boating and Tourism

Meeting with Eero Heinäluoma (Member of the European Parliament)

22 May 2025 · Boating Industry

Meeting with Ana Vasconcelos (Member of the European Parliament)

20 May 2025 · European Oceans Pact and Water Resilience Strategy

Meeting with Bruno Gonçalves (Member of the European Parliament)

20 May 2025 · ITRE policies

Meeting with Fotini Ioannidou (Director Mobility and Transport) and

30 Apr 2025 · Exchange of views on initiates potentially affecting the European Boating Industry

Meeting with Matthieu Moulonguet (Cabinet of Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra)

29 Apr 2025 · Decarbonisation of the boating industry

Meeting with Fleur Breuillin (Cabinet of Commissioner Costas Kadis)

29 Apr 2025 · European Ocean Pact

Meeting with Stéphane Séjourné (Executive Vice-President) and

10 Apr 2025 · Impact of US tariffs

Meeting with Kerstin Jorna (Director-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) and

10 Apr 2025 · Impact of US tariffs

Meeting with Željana Zovko (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Apr 2025 · EU-US trade

Meeting with Brando Benifei (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Mar 2025 · US Tariffs and international trade implications

Meeting with Jörgen Warborn (Member of the European Parliament) and American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium

27 Mar 2025 · US Trade

Meeting with Raphaël Glucksmann (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Mar 2025 · Trump tariffs

Meeting with Francesco Torselli (Member of the European Parliament)

25 Mar 2025 · Incontro conoscitivo

Meeting with Kris Van Dijck (Member of the European Parliament)

25 Mar 2025 · EU -US tariffs

Meeting with Magdalena Andreea Strachinescu Olteanu (Head of Unit Maritime Affairs and Fisheries)

19 Mar 2025 · The EBI enquired about the future work together, after the publication of their report last year.

Meeting with Nikolina Brnjac (Member of the European Parliament)

5 Mar 2025 · Introducing the work of EBI and its priorities

European Boating Industry Urges Access Protection in Water Strategy

26 Feb 2025
Topic — The plan aims to manage water sources and ensure resilience across Europe.
Message — Regulations must ensure continued access to recreational navigation in all water environments. The EU should fund climate adaptation for waterway and marina infrastructure. Future policies must include proportionate measures that do not unfairly restrict boating.12
Why — Managing water levels prevents economic damage to local tourism and leisure businesses.3
Impact — Extractive sectors are explicitly identified as the primary targets for the strategy.4
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European Boating Industry Urges Integration into EU Oceans Pact

17 Feb 2025
Topic — The European Oceans Pact aims to harmonize EU maritime policies for a resilient blue economy.
Message — EBI requests the full integration of recreational boating into the European Oceans Pact. They propose simplifying skipper licensing and applying reduced VAT rates to nautical tourism.12
Why — Streamlined regulations and new funding would increase sector value and reduce administrative costs.34
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Meeting with Christophe Clergeau (Member of the European Parliament) and WindEurope and

14 Jan 2025 · SEARICA

Response to Restriction updating Annex XVII REACH regarding CMRs (2023)

18 Dec 2024

We provide the attached position paper as input to the consultation regarding the issue of leisure boats at sea where there are some inconsistencies in the regulatory approach. European Boating Industry (EBI) is the association representing the recreational boating and nautical tourism industry in Europe.
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Meeting with Arash Saeidi (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs

11 Dec 2024 · Echange de point de vue

Meeting with Rosa Serrano Sierra (Member of the European Parliament) and FIGIEFA - Fédération Internationale des Grossistes, Importateurs & Exportateurs en Fournitures Automobiles / International Federation of Automotive Distributors and

11 Dec 2024 · Priorities for European Commission 2024-2029

Meeting with Denis Nesci (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Dec 2024 · Consumers positions

Meeting with Alicia Homs Ginel (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Dec 2024 · Presentación de prioridades en materia de transporte

Meeting with Jens Gieseke (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Dec 2024 · Austausch zu EU Politik

Meeting with Borja Giménez Larraz (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Dec 2024 · Boating industry priorities

Meeting with Daniel Attard (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Dec 2024 · European Boating Industry

Meeting with Kris Van Dijck (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Nov 2024 · Decarbonisation of the EU boating industry & Inland waterways

Meeting with Daniel Attard (Member of the European Parliament)

24 Jul 2024 · Introduction to EBI

Meeting with Johannes Hahn (Commissioner)

26 Jan 2024 · Keynote speech for European Boating Industry – “The blue economy: for a sustainable coastal and maritime tourism industry”

European Boating Industry seeks specific taxonomy category for yachts

2 May 2023
Topic — The consultation defines technical screening criteria for sustainable activities under the EU Taxonomy.
Message — The organization proposes creating a stand-alone category for recreational boats with specific criteria. They argue sailing boats are sustainable-by-design and should be automatically taxonomy-aligned.12
Why — Separate classification would prevent the industry from facing unworkable commercial shipping standards.34
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European Boating Industry seeks inclusion in EU green taxonomy

2 May 2023
Topic — The initiative establishes a classification for sustainable economic activities contributing to EU environmental objectives.
Message — EBI proposes including marinas, boat rentals, and second-hand boat marketplaces in the investment framework. Marinas are described as on-water equivalents to campsites requiring alternative fuel infrastructure.12
Why — This classification would facilitate essential funding for charging infrastructure and decarbonisation projects.3
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Meeting with Ismail Ertug (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

24 Jan 2023 · Putting in place charging and alternative fuel infrastructure

Meeting with Johannes Hahn (Commissioner)

23 Jan 2023 · Public speech on blue economy support for innovation from the EU budget at the Blue Innovation Dock, preceded by an informal lunch with the Boot fair management and the European Boating Industry.

Meeting with Jens Gieseke (Member of the European Parliament)

7 Dec 2022 · Austausch zur EU-Verkehrspolitik

Meeting with Niclas Herbst (Member of the European Parliament)

7 Dec 2022 · Wassersport auf Nord- und Ostsee

Meeting with Ismail Ertug (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

30 Nov 2022 · AFIR

European Boating Industry seeks simpler customs status for vessels

12 Sept 2022
Topic — The EU is revising customs rules to handle modern trade and e-commerce challenges.
Message — They request a review of how boat owners demonstrate EU status to authorities. A harmonised solution is needed to address practical issues and ensure compliance.12
Why — This would support a prosperous second-hand market and benefit the wider boating industry.3
Impact — Owners face significant uncertainty and struggle to sell boats without proper documentation.4
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Response to Standardisation Strategy

30 Jul 2021

European Boating Industry (EBI) welcomes the initiative to develop a new EU standardisation strategy and supports the objectives identified in the Commission Roadmap . The European recreational boating industry, represented by EBI, is a key stakeholder and beneficiary of a successful European standardisation process in relation to several key pieces of legislation (such as the Recreational Craft Directive 2013/53/EU, Personal Protective Equipment Regulation 2016/425). International standardisation is key to support the globally exporting recreational boating industry and decreases international divergence. EBI hereby provides feedback on the key questions highlighted in the European Commission roadmap. 1) whether the current European standardisation system is fit for purpose to support European strategic interests - European standards support European leadership in boat-building - Consider the position of innovative products in the standardisation process 2) how the EU can leverage and promote global leadership in standards-setting - Increase European representation at ISO level - Increased role of CEN and European members 3) whether changes in governance and working methods are required to improve the performance of the European standardisation system. - Speed up harmonisation process - Improving EU legal expertise in ISO process - Monitoring system for the standards assessment process - Fixed dates for publication of harmonised standards - Improved and harmonised accident investigations at EU level - Inclusion of standard discussions in regulatory cooperation activities with the UK Our detailed position paper can be found in the attached document.
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Response to Climate change mitigation and adaptation taxonomy

18 Dec 2020

European Boating Industry (EBI) represents the European recreational boating industry, which includes companies manufacturing and providing services. There are estimated to be around 32,000 companies in the sector, over 95% of which are SMEs, employing over 280,000 employees directly. Economic opportunities are primarily created in peripheral, and coastal regions, islands and along inland waterways. EBI fully supports the European Green Deal with investment in sustainable technology crucial for the transformation of the sector. Sustainable finance and investment are therefore a crucial element. Recreational boating covers several economic activities included in the Commission Delegated Regulation supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852. We support the objectives and approach taken. We are however concerned about the lack of differentiation for products and services related to recreational boating to those for (maritime) transport. This lack of differentiation currently does not provide appropriate criteria for assessing products and services related to recreational boating. There are practical considerations to be considered, which substantially differentiate recreational boats, services, and infrastructure to that of maritime transport or other transport modes (such as size, range, and non-commercial use of boats). In addition, it should be considered that IMO rules do not offer an adequate basis for screening criteria due their different application scope. For recreational boats under 24m, Directive 2013/53/EU on recreational craft and personal watercraft applies. For larger boats and yachts, other EU legislation and international conventions will apply depending on each vessel. Given these considerations, we suggest clustering all economic activities related to recreational boating in one section, including both manufacturing and services, with relevant criteria. This refers to recreational boats in the scope of the Directive 2013/53/EU. Screening criteria for other activities of the sector that are not yet included in the Delegated Regulation should also be developed.
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Meeting with Ruben Alexander Schuster (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius)

16 Sept 2020 · The Blue Economy; the impact of COVID-19 and the implementation of the Recovery Plan

Meeting with Carlos Morais Pires (Cabinet of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel)

14 Sept 2020 · The Horizon Mission on healthy oceans

Meeting with Simeona Manova (Cabinet of Commissioner Elisa Ferreira)

10 Jul 2020 · VC on EBI position paper and COVID-19 Impact in Europe

Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner) and

28 May 2020 · Impacts of COVID-19

Meeting with Roxana Lesovici (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean)

22 Apr 2020 · Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the boating sector

Meeting with Rozalina Petrova (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius)

25 Feb 2020 · Blue Economy, Circular Economy Action Plan, Green Deal

Meeting with Cristina Rueda Catry (Cabinet of Commissioner Phil Hogan), Tom Tynan (Cabinet of Commissioner Phil Hogan)

27 Nov 2019 · Trade

Response to Towards an EU Product Policy Framework contributing to the Circular Economy

28 May 2018

FEEDBACK FROM EUROPEAN BOATING INDUSTRY The European Boating Industry (EBI) salutes the Commission’s initiative to work on an EU Product Policy Framework contributing to the Circular Economy. Such coherent and unique policy will greatly improve the sustainability of our society and economy. However, EBI is surprise to read that no impact assessment is being planned (except in case of options with expected significant impact would be considered). Even if this initiative is based on existing initiatives, as an “EU Product Policy Framework” intends to develop options regarding the design, production, use-phase and end-of-life of products, it seems that it would potentially have enough economic, social and environmental impacts, including on small and medium enterprises, as to require an impact assessment. Therefore, EBI would welcomed if the European Commission evaluated the possibility to plan an impact assessment.
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Meeting with Alicja Magda Herbowska (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)

2 Jun 2016 · Cultural Heritage and Tourism

Meeting with Andras Inotai (Cabinet of Vice-President Karmenu Vella)

25 Jun 2015 · Blue growth, nautical tourism