Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-18-Speech-3-098"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20021218.6.3-098"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I should like to thank Parliament for this opportunity to express, on behalf of the Council, my deepest sympathy with those affected by the devastating and scandalous pollution that followed the accident involving the oil tanker
off the Galician coast.
I believe that we all hoped that, following the
accident in 1999 – I myself was present at discussions on this here in Parliament – we had put an end to this kind of disaster in the heart of Europe. Unfortunately it has happened again, however, and thus maritime safety and the prevention of oil slick disasters is back on the agenda.
Following the
accident, the Council and Parliament adopted a number of measures to improve safety and reduce oil pollution at sea. We still do not know what went wrong to cause the wreck off the Galician coast, but the fact that it could happen is, in itself, proof enough that further action is required. There is now a need for us to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent this kind of accident in the future – and for us to send a strong political signal to the population, shipowners, captains, and everyone involved in transporting oil, in particular.
On 21 November, Parliament made a strong statement on the
. I should like to say to Mrs de Palacio that the Commission, in my opinion, has shown great energy in acting on this difficult matter. Both institutions deserve praise for the Community’s swift action in initiating decisions promoting maritime safety and the protection of the marine environment. We now have a starting point from which to proceed with the matter.
It has been the Presidency’s intention to treat the
accident extremely seriously. The matter was placed on the agenda of the
Council of Transport Ministers on 6 December and at the Council meeting of Environment Ministers on 9 December, and I was present when it was also discussed in detail at the European Council meeting in Copenhagen
last week. This was one of the reasons why there was a delay, meaning that the ministers did not end up dining with the Queen of Denmark. It was important to the Presidency that the meeting produce tangible results, and we can now say that it did indeed produce results.
The Council has declared that all the relevant measures will be taken to prevent this kind of accident: at international, EU and national level. I am happy that the Council Conclusions are fully in line with the views of the European Parliament. Both the Council and the Presidency hold the view that we have achieved a good result, one which sends out the strong political signal we need: a firm line against single-hull tankers in the EU and the political will to find solutions.
It is my hope that Parliament will make an active contribution – and I am quite sure that it will – to the rapid achievement of the goals set. In particular, I am thinking of the measures that Parliament and the Council will be adopting together under the codecision procedure. These include accelerating the phasing-out of single-hull tankers. I have no doubt that we can agree on this, given the will and resolve that Parliament has shown in this matter. The Council is also looking forward to constructive cooperation with Parliament, so that there is no unnecessary delay in putting in place the tightening of regulations and the rules on liability that are needed for the purposes of prevention and in order to ensure that, if accidents should happen, it is the right people who are made to pay: that is, those responsible."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"Prestige accident"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples