Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-23-Speech-2-270"

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"Mr President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, the question we must ask ourselves is whether, nine years after the accident involving the and almost six years after the one involving the we are prepared if anything like this should happen again. This is the real question before us. Is everything in order? Do we have a sufficient number of experts who are independent enough to take decisions? Can they work quickly enough? Have we finished all the preparations enabling them to call on other specialists or on relief workers to resolve the matter? Is the crew properly treated in such a case? Is compensation paid out? Do we know enough about the ships travelling along our coasts? These are the questions we asked after the and also after the . At that time, the Commission lost no time in presenting proposals in this regard, and we also put a few things down on paper – which we now need to refine. We have had a first reading, to which the Council responded in the form of a common position – a particularly disappointing one. However, to my great satisfaction I must say that, since then, we have held informal talks with the Council – first with the Slovenian Presidency and now, particularly, with the French – that have produced very good results. As regards the competent authority, we are almost there. We have a good text down on paper that I would at all events advocate to my fellow Members. There is an authority that is involved in planning, is permanent in nature, has the necessary expertise and can take independent decisions to improve the accommodation of ships. We have also made progress in the field of vessel monitoring, not only by means of ordinary radar, but also by satellite. We have more detailed information on the cargo and know who is responsible for providing this information. Monitoring also applies to fishing vessels, so that the safety of small vessels can also be increased. We have worked out the measures to be taken in the presence of ice. We have made progress, therefore, but we are still not completely finished. What remains to be resolved? The tendency to regard crews as criminals, compensation in the event of financial losses for ports, and compulsory notification for bunker fuel. After all, small quantities of this highly polluting fuel can sometimes do very great damage to the environment – as was the case, for example, with the accident off the Belgian/French coast, where 180 tonnes of fuel, although a very small amount, caused fairly considerable damage. President-in-Office, I should like to express my appreciation for the work that we – Parliament and the Council – have managed to do together in connection with my report, and I wish to encourage Parliament and the Council to continue in that vein. This brings me to the two texts on which we have no common position. As rapporteur for one of the texts, I would urge the Council to adopt a decision on the two missing texts, too. I know that the President-in-Office is working hard on this, but the two issues of the financial responsibility of shipowners and the task of flag states are regarded by Parliament as an essential component in order to reinforce maritime safety. The International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea (‘HNS’ Convention), for example, must be ratified by all Member States if a proper system for the accommodation of ships is to be developed for the various Member States and for the Union. Parliament urges the President-in-Office to do everything possible to ensure that the Council adopts a decision on these two texts, too. If it does not, we shall have a very serious problem; the likelihood is that Parliament will regard everything we have achieved, however much I value it, as unsatisfactory. I would ask the President-in-Office to keep up the good work, therefore. Parliament – this rapporteur, in any case – is behind him. Let us continue to work to achieve the best possible result for maritime safety."@en1
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