Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-23-Speech-2-272"
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"en.20080923.34.2-272"2
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"Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we were in this Chamber in April 2007 for the first reading. Now it is September 2008, and I do not think that the time has passed in vain. There have been many developments, many advances have been made, and I remain confident that we will be able to go the last mile that we still have to travel for the completion of a major task, that of giving all European citizens, and non-Europeans too, in fact all those who sail on Europe’s seas, safety conditions that are certainly better than the existing ones.
I would like to call to mind not only the
or the
as mentioned by Mr Sterckx, but – and this is the task that I have set myself for my report on the sector – I would also like to say that we must avoid tragedies such as that of the
with 800 deaths in the Philippines, as well as the ‘mere’ 4 deaths recorded in the collision between a container ship and a hydrofoil on the Strait of Messina or again the ‘mere’ 2 deaths a few days ago among those on
which hit a
in Paris. To sum up, there are risks on all waters, and we need to take action on all waters.
The direction is very simple, though: it seems to me that we cannot put ourselves in the position of regretting not having taken the decisions required in the face of accidents that recur. I would like to make the point again – these decisions relate not only to the protection of the environment, shores and seas, such as
and
but also to the protection of human lives such as in the serious accidents that have, through luck, up until now taken place on seas far from us – recently – as well as those incidents that seem smaller. I gave just two examples: one on the Strait of Messina and the other on the River Seine a few days ago.
My report also contains a strategy, which I believe we should all adopt: making the best use of all European competences in terms of environmental protection and consumer protection. In this case, that means protection of lives, of individuals, and protection of safety and security to improve on the current situation.
We need to be careful, however: we need to use the competences that the Treaty allows without any absolute transfer of further sovereignty, and without taking away any area from the Member States that, as we believe, and as we want to believe, fully share this objective.
From this viewpoint, then, I think that we ought to continue to work in the area to which my report relates to find mechanisms whose scope can be extended in ways that nobody can reject, and to find gradual methods of implementation over a reasonable period that will allow everyone to adapt over time, without demanding that things should happen overnight. On the limitation of liability, we need to find a way to combine certainty on the part of the shipowner regarding the liability it is assuming and the amount of damages that it might incur, with certainty on the part of potential victims that they will receive compensation. We therefore need to come up with some solutions that take up the option of moving around the upper or lower limits – which are currently fixed – that we want to or will be able to impose. We need to ensure that better information is given to those who travel on our vessels and we need to make it possible for action to be taken immediately when accidents happen, including through advance payments in limited, appropriate cases, which can be verified.
I believe that on these issues we can find an agreement very easily; we can find a way to respond to those points that still remain and close the dossier. The fundamental point remains, however: we must not permit ourselves to tackle just one point, but we need to close the issue and to be able to say to European citizens that we are working on all fronts and in all sectors.
I will not repeat the issue relating to the two – let us say – reports that are missing, the two provisions that are missing. I would like to tell the French Presidency that it has made an enormous effort and I am sure it will continue to do so. Personally speaking, and as regards Parliament, I can assure you that in any case we will work every day, at all times, from now until 31 December this year, to ensure that the dossier can be closed under this presidency and that it can be closed in the best way possible for all those who are watching us. I am convinced that in the end we will all be able to feel proud of having made progress on maritime security in Europe, with nobody feeling – how shall I put it? – that they are losing any responsibility that they want to exercise directly."@en1
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"La Besogne"1
"Princess of the Stars"1
"bateau mouche"1
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