Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-24-Speech-2-259"
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"en.20070424.46.2-259"2
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".
Madam President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr Barrot, ladies and gentlemen, at a time when we are discussing the Erika 3 package for enhancing safety and are addressing the future European maritime strategy, I should like to begin by pointing out the importance of our seas and oceans as a public resource.
They make an enormous contribution to the geographical dimensions of the EU and its single market and, in turn, to the EU’s influence on the world stage. With the EU’s outermost regions and 320 000 km of coastline, where a third of Europe’s population lives, our seas and oceans have given the EU a larger global maritime area. They also give a boost to maritime transport to and from, and inside, the EU.
As shadow rapporteur for the Socialist Group in the European Parliament on the Costa report on the civil liability of carriers, I should like to congratulate Mr Costa and all of the rapporteurs on their openness and on the good work they have done. I have sought to promote the importance of this report among various interested parties, consulting them and canvassing their opinions. I also sought to strengthen the rights of passengers in the event of an accident or incident by ensuring that they receive appropriate financial compensation in order to alleviate the damage done when the worst happens and, as we all know, the worst does happen sometimes, as evidenced by the
and
disasters.
I feel that it is maritime carriers which should bear the greatest liability when it comes to accidents or incidents because it is in them that we put all our trust when the worst happens. Victims should, in my view, obtain swift and fair compensation and, for this reason, I have tabled proposals to this end. Furthermore, I intend to vote against the amendments aimed at removing from the scope of this proposal any rights applicable to inland navigation routes, because tragedies happen there too and inland navigation is a means of transport worth boosting for environmental and economic reasons.
As Mr Barrot pointed out, the safety regulation should apply to all areas of maritime navigation, and hence to inland navigation too. As Mr Costa so rightly put it, would it be acceptable to offer protection to an international route and refuse it when a ship repeatedly enters inland river waters?
The single market cannot be created with legal vacuums in terms of liability or at the cost of fewer rights, in particular when the economic burden for the private sector has been lessened, as the Commission pointed out. The amendments are aimed at enhancing the information provided to passengers in order to make it clearer and more accessible and at delivering appropriate, direct financial support as quickly as possible. In this connection, I also welcome the possibility of the Member States extending the compensation laid down in the convention.
For these reasons, ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to vote in favour of these reports in the form in which they have been presented. If even one victim obtains adequate support as a result of what we are doing here and now, then our efforts will have been worthwhile, and once again Parliament will have shown itself to be the institution that genuinely represents the citizens of Europe."@en1
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