The European Maritime transport policy has embraced important environmental protection schemes that are directly or indirectly connected to shipping and port performance. A comprehensive database on the European Union (EU) environmental policy for the last 30 years has been attempted concerning mainly shipping and ports in terms of mandatory secondary law. The regulatory instruments were classified according to their subject; while, the main patterns were identified and the connections with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) framework were highlighted. The major findings disclose a complementary operation by both IMO and EU.