(Bloomberg) — European Union regulators proposed to cut red tape for cargo ships travelling between EU ports in a bid to spur maritime trade and bolster the economy.

The European Commission's draft law seeks to ease the administrative burden on intra-EU shipping by reducing reporting formalities at departure and arrival.

Separate proposals to abolish systematic customs controls on goods and speed checks on veterinary products will follow under the push to help short-sea shipping, which carries 40 percent of intra-European freight.

Unlike road, rail and air transport, shipping has no single European market because a vessel sailing between two EU ports is treated as leaving the bloc's territory at departure and re- entering at arrival.

Administrative simplification for EU shipping could generate 2.4 billion euros ($3.1 billion) in benefits, according to the commission, which said the current European economic downturn increases the need for such relief.

"Short-sea shipping is a perfect vehicle for stimulating intra-EU trade exchanges and thus supporting recovery of growth," the commission, the 27-nation EU's regulatory arm, said in a statement today in Brussels.

The draft legislation to reduce reporting formalities at ports needs the backing of EU governments and the European Parliament in a process that can take a year or longer. The EU is seeking deeper maritime-policy coordination to protect the interests of European companies that own 41 percent of the world fleet by carrying capacity.

The new proposal on intra-EU shipping is the legislative component of a package that also includes general maritime-policy recommendations for the next 10 years in areas ranging from employment to the environment to piracy.

The draft law to ease reporting formalities will probably win rapid approval by European governments, which have a "tremendous interest" in the measure, said EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani.

The separate plan for customs relief should take effect in 2010 under a fast-track EU approval procedure, while the effort to accelerate checks on veterinary and phytosanitary products will take the form of guidelines to be drawn up over the coming year, according to the commission.

"We are taking a great step forward," Tajani said. "We want to reduce some of the bureaucratic practices."

The commission's longer-term policy recommendations include enhancing the appeal of maritime jobs, reducing ship pollution, improving the safety and security of vessels and pressing at global level for "open and fair competition".

The suggestions could lead to more concrete EU initiatives in these areas. As part of the environmental goals, the commission in March last year said it would propose EU curbs on ship emissions linked to climate change by the end of 2008.

The commission is now holding off on any draft legislation while assessing the International Maritime Organization's discussions on tackling ship discharges of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

"In the absence of progress in such efforts, the EU should make proposals at European level," the commission said today.

It called for a "legally binding" system to be approved at United Nations talks scheduled for December this year.

On ship security, the commission stressed the need for a "firm response" by EU countries to piracy and armed robbery after a spate of attacks off Somalia last year. To fight piracy in the region, the EU approved its first naval mission last month.

The commission hosted a seminar today to discuss other ways of protecting ships from the "scourge" of piracy and urged an "integrated civilian/military approach where all concerned work together."