Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-330"
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"en.20050222.17.2-330"2
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".
Mr President, we are discussing the directive on criminal penalties to combat illegal oil discharges at sea, and as your rapporteur, I am delighted with the agreement reached with the Council at second reading. It required a great deal of intensive consultation, and the agreement we have reached with the Council guarantees a firm but fair European approach to illegal oil discharges and oil disasters. I should like to underline to the House the social importance of this directive. The immediate motivation for the present legislative proposal was the oil disaster involving the
. Hundreds of kilometres of coastline were seriously polluted and the present package of measures really does not only pertain to those accidents but also aims to combat illegal discharges in European coastal waters. Those illegal discharges may not make newspaper headlines, but they do constitute a seriously underestimated and underexposed problem, for every year, some 90 000 cases of illegal discharge take place in European waters. Beaches are polluted year in and year out, and oil pollution accounts for no less than 40% of the dead seabirds along the North Sea coast.
The Council has taken a long time to reach a common position, and it proved inadequate for Parliament. We do not want a paper tiger but sound European tracing and penal agreements. The Council has accommodated Parliament to a large extent, which benefits the European citizens and the environment. I should like to enlarge on the key points.
Firstly, there are tough sanctions to combat illegal discharges. The Council accepted a framework decision in December in which the penalties are incorporated in the third pillar. The Council has thus paved the way to reach this agreement. This third-pillar proposal is also firmly anchored in the directive by including a criminal offences clause. Moreover, the Council has guaranteed the parallel adoption of both legislative proposals. In this way, and in advance of the new Constitution, Parliament has strengthened its institutional position.
Secondly, illegal discharges are to be traced. Most countries can only just act against illegal discharges, if at all, but by lowering the threshold for combating these to serious negligence, we can guarantee that infringements can be tackled fairly and squarely. However, we should not veer to the other extreme, namely to the disproportionate criminalisation of captain and crew, a subject which has been hotly debated. Parliament values the protection offered by international conventions in the event of illegal discharges, but this is more complicated in the case of accidents.
The Commission and Council do not want any additional Marpol protection within the territorial waters, believing that this would then make it virtually impossible to act, a view endorsed by a majority in the Committee on Transport and Tourism. Nevertheless, I have noticed that this topic is continuing to be discussed, for it was only yesterday that I received a letter from the International Maritime Organisation on this very subject, a letter with which the Commissioner is also familiar. Can you, Commissioner, remove the fear that is still being felt by some that, in the case of accidents, the crew is being criminalised from the word go, because that is not the intention?
Thirdly, this House has cherished the dream of a European coastguard for a long time. It is necessary for oil pollution to be prevented and traced effectively. This wish has so far not been recognised by the Council, but that is now the case with this agreement. I am therefore delighted that the Council recognises the principle of a European coastguard. It has been agreed that the Commission will present a feasibility study before the end of 2006, and we are looking forward, Commissioner, to the outcome of your study and also to your proposal for a European coastguard.
Finally, we should, naturally, do everything in our power to prevent pollution, and that is where the Directive on port reception facilities comes in, although it is still woefully inadequate. What will the Commission do to improve it?
My thanks go to my fellow Members for the trust they have placed in me and for the good cooperation, as well as to the secretariat of the Committee on Transport and Tourism. I should also like to thank the Commission warmly for all the support and cooperation. Last but not least, I should like to thank the Luxembourg Presidency for the dynamic way in which it steered the negotiations, which was not an easy task. I am pleased with the result, for which I would thank you, particularly from the perspective of the public interest and that of the environment along our coasts and in our coastal waters."@en1
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