Shipbreaking Monthly: European Parliament adopts the Omnibus I deregulation package in International Shipping News 10/01/2026 Happy 2026! The Shipbreaking Platform team would like to wish you all a year full of happiness, compassion, and good energy. We all need it! In the second issue of Shipbreaking Monthly, and the first in 2026, we will cover news and activities from the end of last year, share our positions on the upcoming legislation, and many more. European Parliament adopts the Omnibus I deregulation package With the final vote on the Omnibus deregulation package, the European Union’s leadership in sustainable transition is now history. On the 16th of December, the European Parliament adopted this set of laws which is a major step back from the necessary path towards corporate accountability. We are hereby sharing the position of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice. What does it entail? The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive has been significantly watered down. The adopted package removed the climate transition plans, which required large companies to reduce their climate impact. In addition, civil liability, supposed to remove barriers for victims of corporate abuse to search for justice, has also been scrapped. This is a big loss to civil society and nature, and a gift to large corporate players handed over on a silver platter of ‘simplification’ crafted by the alliance of center-right and far-right parties in the European Parliament. Nevertheless, the battle is not over. EU Member States have 3 years to transpose this legislation to national laws. It is important to highlight that the EU framework is a minimum, and member states can still adopt stronger laws protecting people and the planet. EU must act on full potential of ship recycling The NGO Shipbreaking Platform, joined by Recycling Europe and EUROFER, published a joint statement calling the EU to recognise ship recycling as a sector of strategic importance. In the statement, the signing parties highlighted the numerous benefits of ship recycling for the European steel market in light of circularity and the green transition towards low-carbon production methods, and outlined concrete policy actions needed to unlock its full potential. As outlined in our recent report on scrap steel from ships, ship recycling has an untapped potential to decarbonise European steelmaking. In order to get there, several policy measures would need to be introduced: – Closing the re-flagging loophole in the EU Ship Recycling Regulation by enlarging its scope to the real owners of vessels, – A true level playing field: only fully compliant yards approved, – Investment & financing to scale EU ship recycling capacity, – Transparency from shipowners on fleet retirement plans, – Recognition of ship recycling in the upcoming Circular Economy Act. Bringing back ship recycling to the EU is also a question of environmental justice as ships contain many hazardous materials of which the export to South Asian beaches is prohibited by international law. The EU should take responsibility for its ships and ensure their safe and environmentally sound recycling. Strengthening the domestic ship recycling sector will contribute to the EU’s circularity objectives, its strategic material autonomy, while creating green jobs in synergy with the steel market. European Commission consultation on the EU-approved ship recycling facilities’ list update The long-awaited consultation on the 15th up