Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-12-13-Speech-3-465"
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"en.20061213.40.3-465"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should firstly like to thank, in particular, the secretariat of the Committee on Transport and Tourism for its excellent preparative work and its work in consulting the interested parties in the context of this important matter.
What we are mainly concerned with here is the protection of the environment against marine pollution. The report that I am submitting to you today is about the accelerated introduction of double-hull or equivalent design requirements for single-hull oil tankers.
In particular, it is a question of putting an end to the exemptions that have existed since 2002. Indeed, after the ‘Prestige’ oil tanker went down in 2002, the Commission had decided, in accordance with the December 2002 regulation, to speed up the withdrawal of single-hull oil tankers. It was also a question of banning, with immediate effect, the carriage of heavy grades of oil in single-hull oil tankers bound for or leaving ports in a Member State of the European Union. At present, international maritime legislation specifies that a vessel flying the flag of a Member State may take advantage of the exemptions from this ban, insofar as - and this goes without saying - it is operating outside European ports.
As Mr Barrot has just mentioned, it was at a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation that the Italian Presidency of the EU stated, on behalf of the 15 Member States, that the latter would not authorise their tankers to make use of this exemption from Regulation 13H. According to the Commission, it was therefore appropriate to amend the 2002 regulation by doing away with the last exemption to Regulation 13H and, therefore, to ban the carriage of heavy grades of oil in single-hull oil tankers flying the flag of a Member State, whatever the jurisdiction applicable to the ports, offshore terminals or maritime area in which these tankers operate.
Only one European country – Greece – had refused to accept this political position adopted by the Italian Presidency, believing that this statement was not binding on it. It wished, it seems, to continue to authorise its single-hull tankers to operate outside European ports with, of course, heavy grades of oil on board.
Finally, this objection was not renewed during the work done by the Committee on Transport and Tourism. The 25 Member States of the European Union have now agreed that not a single oil tanker carrying heavy grades of oil will any longer be authorised to fly the flag of a Member State if it is a single-hull vessel. In reality, this only confirms what is already complied with and applied by the vast majority of Member States. The absolute demand for compliance with the objective of maximum maritime safety has again prevailed in this matter, in the same way as the demand for a reduction in the risks of pollution by hydrocarbons.
There are many pollution risks, which may vary in nature. Barely five days ago, in my region, toxic barrels were drifting between the Cotentin and the Atlantic. In the course of last Friday evening, these barrels had been lifted by a storm from the deck of a Swiss container on its way from Antwerp to Portugal. Admittedly, the new double-hull legislation constitutes a notable advance in the field of preventing marine pollution, but there is a need to continue issuing standards enabling tankers and merchant ships to offer the maximum number of safeguards. The motorways of the sea are a way of relieving congestion, but vessel safety must not be neglected under any circumstances. What is at stake here is the future of the whole planet.
Mr President, Commissioner, I should like to emphasise that I am tabling a technical amendment, which also has the support of the European Commission, that prevents our having to change a series of cross-references. Being of a linguistic nature, this amendment only concerns the English version. It does not alter the substance of the text, and the Finnish Presidency has confirmed to us that it does not present any problem to the Council."@en1
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