Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-11-Speech-3-250"
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"en.20040211.9.3-250"2
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"Mr President, it is appropriate to reiterate that Parliament, the Commission and the Council reacted quickly and efficiently to the tragic accidents involving the
and
oil tankers off the European coastline. Important legislation was also adopted, within the framework of which I should like to highlight the establishment of the European Maritime Safety Agency, which is to have its headquarters in Lisbon, and this is something that I naturally welcome. I should also like to point out that Parliament has set up a Temporary Committee on Improving Safety at Sea (MARE), whose report we await with interest. The fact that we are once again debating this subject here today, with the specific aim of extending the competences of the Agency, is ample proof that, contrary to what often happens in such circumstances, the passage of time and the effects of media pressure following these events have not exhausted our capacity for political action and to keep pace with this issue.
Let us take a look, then, at the fields in which the Commission proposes to extend the Agency’s power to act. Firstly, marine pollution response. We have always said that the Member States must coordinate their efforts when accidents happen. Experience has shown that no State is capable of dealing with large-scale oil spills on its own. There are thus obvious benefits of coordinated Community action in this area and the agency can play an important role. Its new function, accident response, is, moreover, the major plus point of the proposal for us in Portugal, a coastal country, which has a long coastline and where numerous shipping routes converge. It is, however, necessary to be totally precise in defining the agency’s methods of intervention, with particular regard to the availability of specialised ships that will be at the disposal of Member States affected by pollution, and to the system for chartering these ships.
Secondly, the training of seafarers does not cause any problem, especially with regard to how the agency will participate in the procedures of recognising the certificates of competency of seafarers issued by countries outside the EU.
Thirdly the most contentious issue concerns the agency’s activities in the area of security, since the Commission’s original proposal appeared to impinge on the Member States’ competences in matters of national security and the fight against terrorism. Nonetheless, the amendments proposed by the rapporteur and approved by the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism have succeeded not only in confining the Agency’s scope to clearly defined areas which tally with the new Community competences resulting from the Directive on Ship and Port Facility Security, but also in ensuring that their activities complement the prerogatives of coastal States and do not impinge on them. In conclusion, we endorse the balanced approach taken by the rapporteur, whom we should like to congratulate for his excellent contribution to improving safety at sea and to preventing maritime pollution. What we must never forget is that, when accidents do happen, damage does not respect national borders."@en1
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