Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-12-Speech-1-076"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010212.5.1-076"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, setting up a Committee on Safe Seas, ostensibly in the aim of improving the implementation of legislation governing maritime safety, environmental protection and shipboard living and working conditions, will reinforce the reactionary nature of European Union policy in the shipping sector.
The Commission's proposals contain reactionary arrangements which undermine the role of international organisations such as the International Maritime Organisation and the International Labour Organisation. Basically, they institutionalise the EU Member States' refusal to participate in initiatives to accept or apply amendments to international conventions or resolutions, their obligations as contracting parties to international law notwithstanding. In acting as the guardian of the interests of European big business, the European Union is interfering in changes to the international law which has evolved since the war and, having graduated to global guardian, it is sacrificing safety, human life itself and environmental protection just so that the monopolies can increase their profits.
We are radically opposed both to the basic thrust of these policies and to the practice of taking fragmentary, inefficient action in order to allay the acute concerns and reactions of the public, the trades union and ecological organisations in the wake of the plethora of fatal and highly environmentally dangerous accidents at sea. Moreover, the attempt being made by Europe as an economic, political and shipping centre, within the framework of the trade war with other shipping centres, such as the USA, Japan, Australia and others, to fashion its own mechanism for controlling maritime transport and imposing its own choices undermines the International Maritime Organisation. This will lead to distinctions being made outside generally accepted principles and this in itself is fraught with dangerous consequences for the basic safety of shipping in practice.
The main issue as regards the safety of ships in general and tankers in particular is the unaccountability of big shipping business and the policy which supports it at national, regional and international level. This unbridled unaccountability is not only being maintained; it is being extended. A typical example is the situation which prevails regarding ships under flags of convenience, which are directly connected with falling maritime safety standards and which are generally responsible for most accidents and for the most serious accidents.
We believe that a policy based on protecting the safety of ships, passengers, crews and the environment must, first and foremost, fight the unaccountability of shipowners, apply strict sanctions against those who violate the law, which is being flagrantly flouted time and time again, with impunity, within the framework of the ΙΜΟ and international conventions. This policy needs to adjust operating factors to the enhanced requirements of ships, help improve shipboard living and working conditions and safeguard the rights of crews and trades union, including their right to intervene in safety issues."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples