Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-11-Speech-3-258"
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"en.20040211.9.3-258"2
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".
Mr President, I would like to thank Mr Mastorakis and all the honourable Members for the wonderful work you have done, participating in something which for almost five years has undoubtedly been one of the key elements of the mandate of this Parliament and this Commission. One of the great steps forward we have taken thanks to our joint work over these years has been to completely revolutionise the issue of maritime safety at European level, and we have shown great ambition, Mr Casaca, because we have gone from practically zero, I would not say to infinity, but certainly we have achieved a huge amount.
With regard to the responsibilities of captains – and I believe there have been responses from different elements – we all want to see people enjoying every possible freedom, but there is a clear issue, and that is respect for judicial decisions in any country of the Union.
We still have to make more progress, but the steps we have taken have been spectacular. I would like to say to the honourable Members, firstly, that in the field of security, in the anti-terrorist sense as well, somebody has to carry out the tasks of control, supervision and support, which are often closely related to security in the other sense, and we therefore believe it would be better for the Agency to deal with the two aspects.
Secondly, with regard to giving the Agency management powers – and I understand that Mrs Miguélez Ramos would like more definitions – it is the case that we have chosen to leave several options open. At a given moment it will be possible to simply commission ships; in other circumstances, charter them; and in others, to operate them directly. There are various possibilities: contracting, management, ownership. We are not ruling out any option. We will have to see what budgetary resources are available to us and what the circumstances are. Let us hope that this Agency goes ahead and does so successfully and for a long time. It must be given a margin. We will have to seek the most appropriate formula and, undoubtedly, this Parliament, although only by means of budgets, will have plenty to say about which formula is ultimately decided on.
Thirdly, with regard to the coastguard, ladies and gentlemen, I know what this Parliament wants and I would be delighted with it. But I believe we must begin by taking certain preliminary steps, until we achieve genuine integration of national coastguards and true coordination in all areas.
Fourthly, you talk about greater competences and there have been several speeches expressing the concern that the Agency’s activities are going to replace the responsibilities of the States. No, ladies and gentlemen. We are talking about a supplementary and complimentary activity, which is in no way a replacement. It is not a question of taking powers away from the States, but rather we are talking about possibilities which did not exist before and which, by means of this Agency, at European level, will be available to us so that we can fight for safer and cleaner seas.
Fifthly: when is the Agency going to move? As soon as possible, ladies and gentlemen. But you must be aware that we are negotiating the issue of headquarters with the Portuguese authorities. If it were up to us, it would be before the summer. The problem is that the Portuguese authorities are facing certain problems with regard to installations and we will have to see whether they are resolved before the end of the year. But it will not depend on us, but rather on the Portuguese authorities. In any event I would like to say that 40 people have already been contracted, including temporary and auxiliary staff and eminent national experts. We have placed great emphasis on this aspect because we believe that this is where the accumulated experience and knowledge is to be found, and furthermore this will allow us to cooperate better with the States of Union, from which, I would insist, there is no intention to take away any powers, but rather to give them more support. In terms of the issue of management and responding to pollution problems, ten people are going to be allocated, for training, seven, for security, and with regard to terrorist aspects, some eight people.
I would like to point out to the honourable Members – and thereby reply to Mrs Miguélez Ramos – that it is obvious that the north-western coast of the Iberian Peninsula is one of the points of greatest risk in terms of ship pollution. We only have to look at where most accidents have occurred over recent years: on the Galician coasts. Other points of risk are the area of the Channel, Brittany, etc. The idea is that anti-pollution ships should be concentrated and permanently based, essentially as an operational base, in areas where there is most risk and they will clearly also be needed in the Mediterranean.
Finally, I will say that the Agency must also have tentacles in the Mediterranean. These are issues we are dealing with.
Mr President, today we are going to approve – I hope – and also discuss in a moment, the issue of responsibility and the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPCF). Once again – and these are our final plenary sessions – we are continuing to make progress and agreeing on extremely important issues so that, amongst all of us, we can provide the European Union with a legal system and a system of resources which truly allows us to combat marine pollution and improve security. We are aware that we will very probably in the future have to deal with issues such as flags of convenience and certain aspects of maritime law – and I am referring to what Mr Casaca said. We will have left the route prepared and I hope that the person who takes over from me – because this is a relay race – can finish the work which amongst all of us we have been promoting over all these years."@en1
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