Credit European ship plant (5)
I believe the answer is:
cress
'plant' is the definition.
(cress is a kind of plant)
'credit european ship' is the wordplay.
'credit' becomes 'cr' (abbreviation).
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'cr'+'e'+'ss'='CRESS'
(Other definitions for cress that I've seen before include "Salad sprouts" , "Plant with leaves used in salad or as garnish" , "Salad plant paired with mustard" , "bit of salad" , "Food item" .)