Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-20-Speech-2-018"
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"en.20040420.2.2-018"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should also like to thank Mr Sterckx for the excellent work put into his report. I hope that nothing, and certainly not a disaster, will happen to temper the Commissioner’s optimism and that neither the Mediterranean nor any other landlocked sea will be the arena for a tragedy of such proportions.
The hearings of the temporary committee on improving safety at sea have been most instructive. It has been revealed, for example, that the human element plays a role in 80% of accidents. It is therefore essential for crews to be given good training in safety matters. This must provide for efficient and coordinated emergency plans in the event of a disaster at sea. In addition, steps should be taken to ensure that crews have good conditions in which to work, in this way helping at an early stage to provide rapid and appropriate responses to extreme situations.
In the case of the
we can only deplore the decision taken by the Spanish Government to tow away the vessel and wonder at the statements made at that time by its representative.
Moreover, I welcome the somewhat belated transposition, by virtually all Member States, of the directives relating to classification societies and to port state control, to which the Commissioner referred, while waiting for a more positive attitude from Finland.
The worrying situation of certain new Member States as regards the implementation of international and European laws on maritime safety seems to me to lend itself to the creation of a rapid and complete body of expertise, especially since we may wonder at the relative inaction of the Council regarding criminal-law penalties for pollution of the sea. Without the introduction of such penalties, the hooligans of the sea will go unpunished and will continue to pollute the sea without scruple. In the interests of the ‘polluter pays’ principle, the polluters must be severely punished and, beyond that, each party involved in the transport of goods must be made aware of their responsibilities.
To conclude, therefore, I should point out the equally important need for maritime safety to be accompanied by a genuine policy of prevention and punishment."@en1
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