Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-11-Speech-3-280"
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"en.20040211.11.3-280"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to point out that the Commission has urged the Member States to ratify the Protocol as soon as possible, but unfortunately they have not yet done so.
I entirely agree with Mr Medina that it should be the Commission that is responsible to the International Maritime Organisation, at least for matters in which we have exercised Community competence. The problem is that, as you are well aware, we have not been able to join the Organisation because, among other things, the Council has had the mandate for some time now. It is a proposal that I made nearly two years ago and, unfortunately, the various presidencies that there have been during that time have been very busy with other matters. This is true, but I also think that they should have given some attention to this issue, which they did not do.
In summary, the Council’s enthusiasm for moving forward in terms of Community presence in the International Maritime Organisation is not across the board.
The same is happening with another organisation, the International Civil Organisation, but I entirely agree that this is the right approach, particularly when, in this case, competence has been exercised in this field for the past four years, which had not been done before. The competence that the Community has now taken on is much greater and, therefore, it should also be able to defend it at international level.
I would say to Mrs Miguélez that, as she is well aware, I made a proposal regarding criminal liability, among other things, because there is often a problem of wilful negligence, and not only in cases like those of the
and the
in which it is up to the judges to decide whether or not it is wilful, but also in cases in which bilges are being cleaned unscrupulously and tanks are being cleaned unscrupulously on the high seas, representing 90% of the spillages that take place on our coasts; it is true that they are more diluted, extended over a longer period of time and a larger area, and therefore are less concentrated, but the impact is absolutely disastrous and devastating and, as you are aware, I have proposed that this problem be dealt with.
Earlier someone, I think it was Mr Ortuondo Larrea, was talking about the European Maritime Safety Agency, and certifying systems to monitor the issue of bilges and emptying tanks and also, in order to combat these types of measures. As you are aware, I believe that we need to act on every front: we need to act through the European Maritime Safety Agency, through monitoring by the port authorities, through the facilities which, it should be remembered, we adopted here, facilities in the ports enabling the vessels to unload and clean bilges and deal with other waste water. This should be done, do not think that we are forgetting, using the latest technology, from satellite photography to every type of system and method available for monitoring the systems installed in the vessels themselves, at the exit points in order to monitor when they leave and whether or not the cleaning has been done.
I think that we need to act on all fronts because sea pollution is something that we cannot tolerate. The sea does not just belong to all Europeans, but to all of humanity, and we have the responsibility to preserve it for future generations.
Thank you very much, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you especially to Mr Gil Robles for the swiftness with which he prepared this report."@en1
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