EUROFER, Recycling Europe, and NGO Shipbreaking Platform urge the EU to put a stop to the double standards in the shipbreaking sector in Shipbuilding News 04/06/2026 As the European Commission is currently working on reviewing technical guidance for third-country shipbreaking facilities, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, EUROFER and Recycling Europe call for a clear ban of beaching and landing methods and the guarantee of a real level playing field for the ship recycling sector. Following our initial joint statement calling to boost ship recycling capacity in the EU, we welcome the European Commission’s initiative to review the technical guidelines for ship recycling yards located in third countries. Acting as an interpretation of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, these guidelines are used by auditors to inspect and authorise ship recycling yards located in third countries to recycle EU-flagged vessels and ensure yards’ compliance. Their revision represents a key opportunity to fix the double standards embedded in the EU Ship Recycling Regulation’s current implementation. In particular, we suggest the following improvements to guarantee a level playing field for ship recyclers in the EU and in third countries: The guidelines must clearly ban beaching and landing as dismantling methods and only authorise dismantling in facilities ensuring full containment. Ship recycling facilities in third countries should be obliged to acquire authorisations and permits needed for inclusion in the European list that are equivalent to the ones required in the EU, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and operational permits clearly defining yards’ conditions and activities (1). Currently in Turkey, despite its high-risk profile, the shipbreaking sector is exempt from the Environmental Permit and Licence Regulation and EIA procedures. The lack of a clear legal framework and weak monitoring schemes in third countries, compared to those applicable to ship recycling yards in th