Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-24-Speech-2-250"
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"en.20070424.46.2-250"2
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".
Madam President, President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, my apologies for not being here to listen to you, but a conciliation meeting on a railway package is being held simultaneously, for which I am also one of the rapporteurs, and on which I have had a rather difficult discussion with your ambassador, which, I hope, will have a favourable ending.
Turning to maritime safety, how can we avoid problems, and how do we address shipping accidents, incidents and calamities? This is what the entire package that the Commission has submitted is about, and I regard the proposal on monitoring and airports as a key component in this. How can problems be avoided? By better monitoring shipping and by increased awareness of what is happening in our waters. This is why, in this report, we would demand stricter control via the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which may already be in place, but to which we would like to add a few things, including data about the crew, about the ship, but also more detailed data about cargo and fuel. Hence my proposal to include the ship's fuel as one of the items to be reported in AIS, because, after all, the quantities of fuel are sometimes huge and can cause enormous damage.
My second point is about AIS for fishing vessels. We are, in principle, in favour, but one remaining bone of contention is the size requirement of ships for which this equipment is required, a point on which I, as rapporteur, do not see eye to eye with the Committee on Transport and Tourism. I am with the Commission in believing that smaller vessels from 15 metres should also be included, while the Committee on Transport states that vessels should not be included unless they are longer than 24 metres. We will see what tomorrow’s vote brings. An important point is the use of data and confidentiality; we must ensure that data are used in a positive spirit, and that data for AIS are not misused in any way. One chapter and a number of amendments are about long range, the new generation; how do we include this new generation within the scope of the Safe Sea Net, because it is evident that Safe Sea Net must become the new tool for communicating between all Member States and within shipping, so that all data are universally known.
Thirdly, what will happen in case of an accident? Needless to say, we must prepare for such eventualities as well as we can. This is something we did not always do, the shipping disasters involving the
and the
being two cases in point. I am pleased that the Commission has adopted a number of points from the report which the temporary committee on improving safety at sea drafted here in Parliament following the disaster with the
. After all, the emphasis should, above all, be on the extent to which the Member States are in a state of readiness. What level of preparation is in place in the event of a problem occurring?
A major bone of contention for the Council was the creation of an independent competent body. Whilst the Commission would like every Member State to have an independent competent body to take decisions when a problem occurs, the Council is less enthusiastic. I can understand that the Council’s brief definition raises a few problems, and that is why we in this House will make it easier for the Member States; in Amendments 31 and 32, we explained exactly what we expect from independent competent bodies of this kind, namely that they save lives, protect the coastline, protect the environment, create safety and protect the economy. In my view, surely everyone should be agreed that this is this body’s task. Secondly, it should be able to take its own decisions. It must also have competency or be able to call on competency quickly. Thirdly, this body must also be able to do a number of things: it must be able to make certain demands of the captain. If necessary, it must be able to deploy rescue teams. It must, if necessary, be able to assess the precise damage itself, because not all ship’s owners or captains are prepared to admit to the extent of the damage. In some cases, they try to bide their time, in which case the competent body must be able to step in. This is the objective of Amendments 31 to 34, which I should like to ask the House to support, because they are essential. I should like to invite the Council to follow this logic too, namely not simply to reject the definition, but to examine its content and to enter into dialogue with us about it. All Member States must have a system that works. If they do not, we are in great danger. The situation at the moment, even after the Monitoring Directive with the document on airports has been laid down, is that a number of Member States still do not have an effective body to manage accidents; they still do not have the necessary plans or necessary means to deal with accidents. This is something we can no longer accept.
Seven reports are interrelated, as the Commission already stated; it is therefore in the Union’s interest that we should build an entire system in a bid to improve maritime safety, and so I would urge the Council to follow Parliament’s lead here."@en1
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