News and current affairs from the world of boating
News
SEND US YOUR STORIES
Email news editor Katy Stickland at
[email protected], tel: 01252 555213T
he RYA is calling on the
Government to ignore
the European Union’s
ruling on red diesel if the UK
leaves the EU without a deal.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and
Customs (HMRC) is conducting
a consultation about the impact
of banning red diesel to propel
pleasure craft.
The consultation follows a
ruling by the Court of Justice of
the European Union (CJEU) in
October 2018, which found that
the UK’s taxation rules for
diesel used in private pleasure
boats contravened the Fuel
Marker Directive.
The directive is designed to
ensure that any misuse of
diesel crossing EU internal
borders can be detected given
the variation in duty treatment
in member states.
In the UK, most marinas sell
red diesel on a 60/40 split of full
and lower tax rates for
propulsion, and heating or
power generation
The RYA’s director of external
affairs, Howard Pridding said a
ban on red diesel could result
in reduced fuel availability in
certain areas, like the west
coast of Scotland. This is
because the fuel infrastructure
is set up for the commercial
fi shing fl eet, which uses red
Over 5,000 square miles of sea
around Scotland could be
turned into Marine Protected
Areas (MPAs) under new plans
being considered by the
Scottish Government.
The four proposed MPAs
cover North East Lewis, the
Southern Trench in the outer
Moray Firth, the Sea of the
Hebrides and Shiant East Bank
in the middle of the Minch, the
sea that separates the Hebrides
from the Scottish mainland.
Marine Scotland is now
consulting on the proposals,
which aim to protect species
such as the minke whale,
basking shark and Risso’s
dolphin, as well as geographical
features such as burrowed mud,
which supports many marine
animals including sea pens.
In its consultation documents,
the Scottish Government says
the new MPAs will not
economically impact recreational
sailing, although harbours could
face increased costs for extra
environmental assessments for
new development projects
including dredging. All vesselsNo Brexit deal? Keep red diesel!
Scottish seas protection
Vincent^ Lowe/AlamyThe RYA is calling on the government to
ignore the EU ruling on red diesel for
leisure boats in the case of a No Deal Brexitdiesel, and the cost to suppliers
of providing white diesel is
prohibitive.
“With reduced fuel availability
there are issues of safety, with
people running out of fuel and
environmental issues, with
people carting fuel from petrol
stations to their boat,” he
explained.
Fuel suppliers in areas with
more leisure boats are
expected to change their
infrastructure to make white
diesel available to cruisers.
Pridding said the RYA would
be lobbying for a transition
period to allow for fuelinfrastructure changes, and
give the dye in red diesel a
chance to pass through most
boat fuel systems. He also
stressed that in the event of a
no deal Brexit, the RYA would
want the CJEU’s ruling ignored.
“I have looked a lot at Brexit
and spoken to as many
politicians as possible and a
number are saying that the
Government plans to honour the
existing judgments by the CJEU,
but this is not cast in stone. We
are arguing that if there is a no
deal Brexit then why implement
the CJEU’s ruling?”
The CA president, JulianDussek would also like to see a
decent transition period from
red to white diesel, arguing that
the “inability to obtain fuel may
make some passages
dangerous”. He said fuel
supply diffi culties may have an
impact on the recreational
motorboat sector.
Details of the consultation
can be found at: http://www.gov.uk/
government/consultations/
implementation-of-the-court-
of-justice-of-the-european-
union-cjeu-judgment-on-
diesel-fuel-used-in-private-
pleasure-craft. It ends on 9
September 2019.The Sea of the Hebrides,
including the isle of Rùm, is
the largest proposed MPABoaters wishing to respond
to the consultation have until
30 August, and should visit:
consult.gov.scot/marine-
scotland/four-new-marine-
protected-areas/.will be limited to a speed of 6
knots within Shark Awareness
Zones from June to October.
There are 231 sites in the
Scottish MPA network, which
covers 22% of Scottish waters.