Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-333"
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"en.20050222.17.2-333"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, with all due respect, environmental pollution does happen, one way or the other. The rapporteur has pointed out that we behave in a rather schizoid manner, because whenever there are environmental disasters we are all appalled; this turns to outrage, and the media come running. But the daily – and I repeat daily – pollution scandal in European and international waters seems not to attract widespread public attention. The figures speak for themselves. The Commission proposal referred at the time to 390 illegal oil discharges in the Baltic in the year 2001 alone and 596 illegal discharges in the North Sea. The environmental organisation Oceania estimates that there are three thousand illegal discharges a year in European waters. This is three thousand too many! Discharging pollutants must no longer be treated as a minor infringement; it is high time that it was made a criminal offence, with those who commit it being prosecuted and receiving stiff penalties.
Investigation and prosecution depend on the availability of appropriate instruments. As has been said, the Member States do, of course, have their responsibilities, but in the longer term we shall need an efficient European coastguard. We shall not have it today or in the immediate future, but I believe it must come in the medium term. The prosecution and sentencing of marine polluters must not be thwarted by nations jealously guarding their rights of jurisdiction.
Tomorrow, Parliament, the Council and the Commission will decide on a reasonably fair compromise, and the rapporteur can claim a great deal of the credit for its coming to pass. I should like to congratulate her and thank her for a very, very good piece of work, which has ensured that we are able to discuss this today and complete the process tomorrow, in other words that we do not need to activate the conciliation procedure but can proceed straight to adoption.
It its framework agreement, the Council undertakes to impose severe penalties for criminal marine pollution: fines, imprisonment and prohibition of economic activity. The Commission and the Council intend to pursue the matter in the IMO. It defies comprehension, for example, that shipowners can still insure themselves against fines for marine pollution. Such rules need to be amended in the IMO framework. By agreeing to a feasibility study, we shall be taking an important first step towards a European coastguard.
I will also, therefore, compliment the presidency on its fruitful cooperation with us on this issue. Luxembourg does not readily spring to mind when you think of countries with long coastlines, but at least it does have a very large fleet, which also imposes responsibility on this presidency, to which my thanks are also due. I believe all of us bear a great deal of responsibility for the natural world, including the seas and oceans. This is why tomorrow’s decisions must be very quickly implemented. Our coasts, our seas and our marine life will thank us for it."@en1
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