Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-28-Speech-3-279"
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"en.20070328.20.3-279"2
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Mr President, honourable Members, allow me first of all to thank you and to congratulate you. I believe that, although this text comes at a very late hour – which I regret somewhat – it illustrates the extent to which Parliament is now largely the guarantor of the European general interest. I should like to thank all of the MEPs who have worked so very hard on these texts. I believe, in actual fact, that we have here a package that should not be broken up. These seven proposals form a whole. They enable us to make the entire maritime transport chain safer, and for that reason, I believe that the packages should be preserved.
Will the directive enable us to increase the protection for victims? Certainly! As Mr Savary did a very good job of pointing out, the introduction of a compulsory financial guarantee system imposed on all vessels that enter European waters is an innovation in the maritime world. The financial guarantees should be reliable and accessible, which is why we are proposing that public authorities check
that the insurance cover is sound and why we are stipulating that victims should be able directly to address insurers, in order to invoke their rights.
There will also be protection for victims, since a minimum level of compensation is guaranteed. This minimum corresponds to the standards of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (in its 1996 version), standards that are, I might add, sufficient in most cases. However, it is true that the directive makes provision, in certain cases, for the benefit of the limitation of civil liability to be withdrawn from shipowners, so that victims can obtain compensation that is commensurate with the damage caused.
Therefore, Mr President, honourable Members, one can say that this proposal for a directive definitely moves our maritime law forward. I should like to say once again how grateful I am for the courage that it has taken to face up to a certain form of opposition, and to move towards modernising private shipping law. There is, in fact, no longer any justification for some principles of the maritime law in force. They result in responsibility being taken away from operators. Our aim is to have quality shipping, our own fleet and third-country ships in transit.
I now come to Mr Savary’s proposal. The aim is indeed to have quality shipping, our own fleet and third-country ships in transit, and for victims to receive compensation that is commensurate with the damage caused, which does not allow for the existing principles of law. The key Amendments 10 and 20, on gross negligence and inexcusable conduct, are along these lines. We endorse them.
You have also demonstrated clear thinking, because you have improved and clarified a number of elements in the proposal: Amendments 9, 11, 14 and 19.
You have introduced new provisions that we feel are precious, more specifically Amendments 16 and 17 on the obligation for Member States immediately to ratify the conventions that are pending.
There remain, however, a few amendments that we can accept in principle, but that we cannot adopt in full. They are Amendments 23, 26 and 27, which refer to the creation of a new Community office for managing guarantee certificates. The idea is certainly very appealing, but does a new structure need to be created when we have the European Maritime Safety Agency? What tasks will it fulfil? You will understand that we want the consequences of these amendments to be looked into further, in detail.
Turning now to Amendment 25, which provides for the creation of a solidarity fund. We are not convinced of the need for this new structure. Will it really be useful, once the directive is implemented, given the too few residual cases? Then, aside from the practical difficulties associated with the setting-up of such a fund, how can we prevent the ‘good’ shipowners from paying for the ‘bad’ ones?
There you have the bulk of my comments. A complete list of the amendments and of the Commission position regarding each of them will be passed on to the secretariat of Parliament for the two proposals in question. However, irrespective of the few reservations that I have expressed on certain amendments, Mr President, please allow me to pay tribute to a very remarkable piece of parliamentary work. I should like once again to thank the rapporteurs, to thank Mr Costa and all of the members of his committee, and to thank Parliament in general for this excellent piece of work which, I hope, will enable us to move in the direction of such maritime safety, which we need now more than ever, in view of the development of maritime transport. In view, too, of the fact that, from now on, the reunified Europe will concern not only the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, but also the Black Sea and the Baltic. We therefore have a pressing duty to make progress. I am grateful to Parliament for having understood this and for having supported us as it has done.
I should like first to address Mrs Vincenzi’s report. I should like to begin by pointing out that this specifically European approach does not seem incompatible with the overall approach within the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). However, it is true that, thanks to the Community, we can promote within the IMO an approach aimed at having the international standards applied more effectively by all of the flag States. This approach is not incompatible with that which consists, at Community level, in already ensuring that each Member State has a flag of quality. In the future, it is the very quality of the flags that will make them more attractive and that will also enable us to better defend their high-level Community use within the maritime sector. Shipping companies will also benefit from such an improvement, since these flags of quality will lead to a reduction in checks at ports. Therefore, I am grateful once again to Mrs Vincenzi.
Furthermore, I would add, Mr President, echoing, for the most part, the committee’s work, that I do not share the Council’s reluctance and I am therefore going to go back over some amendments.
With Amendments 25 and 26, you amend the presentation of the criteria determining the additional surveys to be carried out by the flag administration. I can accept this, but with one reservation: ships that have not been inspected in the last 12 months under the controls of the port State must not be exempted from these investigations. Thus, Amendments 25 and 26 could be reworked, and even improved.
As regards Amendments 43, 44 and 52, I would say that they weaken the proposal, by reducing the demands in relation to the level of recruitment of flag State surveyors. Do you not think that a high-level qualification should be maintained? Thus, Amendments 43, 44 and 52 really pose problems for me, and I cannot accept them.
Although many other amendments clarify the position, some amendments – Amendment 2, Amendment 6, Amendment 13 and Amendment 17 – are in danger of causing some confusion, because they refer to International Labour Organisation instruments and go beyond the scope covered by the proposal. I am therefore unable to accept them.
Lastly, I should like to mention Amendments 4 and 12, which provide the Member States’ authorities and private operators with the opportunity to refer directly to the Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. However, these amendments disregard the right of initiative belonging exclusively to the Commission when exercising implementing powers conferred on it. They are therefore unacceptable to the Commission.
There you have my few remarks, which in no way detract from my support for Mrs Vincenzi’s work, which is quite remarkable. Once again, I am entirely convinced that the Member States should agree to progress along these lines. This is absolutely vital, and, in the long-term, there will be a competitive advantage to having flags of high quality.
Turning now, Mr President, to Mr Savary’s proposal. I am very grateful to him. He has stressed that this evening’s two proposals are somewhat ahead of their time. Yes, precisely, if we want to make progress, we must make a number of attempts to commit the Member States to a policy, to a strategy that is far more courageous and far more determined, in order to prevent any further oil slicks."@en1
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