Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-01-18-Speech-2-132"
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"en.20000118.5.2-132"2
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"Mr President, may I start by saying that I would like to thank Commissioner Palacio very much for her clear, adequate and, at the same time, very firm response. Many thanks for this. This also means that, in any case, I have a great deal of respect for the briefing note which she sent on 10 January but also for the action points which she announced today. The Erika disaster shows that when sound traffic and transport regulations are lacking at international and European level, nature and the environment come off second-best. The damage suffered, also in ecological terms, cannot be expressed in money. Hence also this joint debate involving transport and environmental management Members.
During the Christmas break, when the Dutch media received attention for the Erika disaster, I had a look, just out of interest, on the Internet to see what arrangements were, in fact, already in place for the purpose of taking relevant measures, especially after Premier Jospin had said that Europe should do more. What I learned is that, actually, there is sufficient legislation in place but the problem is the lack of supervision. Could I highlight a few points which have also been touched upon by the Commissioner?
First of all, the port-state control, according to which 25% of all ships require inspection. I think that this 25% should not only be enforced but that it should also be ensured that more inspections take place. So this 25% should be increased. Furthermore, if a ship is no longer seaworthy, not only should the facts be examined, but a legal system should be introduced which states or recommends that the vessel should no longer be used. But this is not in place. Mr President, I would welcome some action in this area.
Finally, as far as the technical requirements for ships are concerned, some Members have already mentioned just now that, since 1999 in the United States, ships should in any case be double-hulled. In my opinion, we should look further into this point, and I also think that the Marpol Treaty, which comes into effect in 2001, should be looked at very closely.
Mr President, I would like to take a brief, critical look at the accession negotiations with Malta and would like to express my gratitude to, and admiration for, the many NGOs that have at least rolled up their sleeves in order to save animals."@en1
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