Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-20-Speech-2-020"
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"en.20040420.2.2-020"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I should first like to thank Mr Sterckx, even if he is not here, for the remarkable job he has done. I should also like to thank you, Commissioner, because I believe that, in the course of this legislative period, we have succeeded in establishing a close working relationship between Parliament and the Commission in order to try and put the finishing touches to the legislation on safety at sea.
We have lived through the disasters of the
and the
from both of which we have been able to draw conclusions regarding bad management and we must make use of them. This has been shown clearly by the discussions of our committee.
We must first turn our attention to all forms of pollution because, while there are maritime disasters, there are also, unfortunately, continuing instances of pollution, in particular those caused by the daily degassing. Under the ‘polluter pays’ principle, we must tackle this problem and adopt measures which are applicable from day to day. Hence the unannounced inspections of vessels, the establishment of a European coastguard service, which must be operational and have human and technical resources at its disposal equal to the tasks assigned to it, and then, of course, the need to monitor the quality of crews so that they can take the right decisions at the right time.
The measures adopted then have to be implemented. A short while ago, the Commissioner noted that Member States have been very slow in implementing the directives and regulations. On this matter, I think that good information on the successes and failures is important, not in order to denounce one or other Member State but rather to encourage them to outdo each other in achieving the objectives set.
As far as ports of refuge are concerned, it is true that there are many questions remaining and that States are not rushing to give a list of such ports. In the face of the concerns and questions of inhabitants who do not want to see shipwrecks turning up outside their windows, I wonder whether we should not proceed differently and perhaps, quite simply, fit out major ports situated along our coasts with adequate technology and equipment, so that such technology and equipment can be made available at any time that a disaster or accident occurs.
Finally, it is also important to note that European authorities, whether national or local, must continue their partnership with the people working in maritime transport. It is not sufficient to state systematically that the people working in this sector are not reliable. Some are, whereas others really are seagoing hooligans. We must – and I think the Commission has a role to play in this respect – support the moves by those who would clearly like to change the image of their industry. From this moment, they are taking responsibility in efforts to modernise their fleet and, of course, to train their seagoing personnel.
Be that as it may, I believe that we in this House must remain vigilant so that the work done here really can bear fruit."@en1
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