Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-23-Speech-2-275"
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"en.20080923.34.2-275"2
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Ladies and gentlemen, in all sectors of transport there has long been careful investigation of the causes of serious transport accidents. Individual Member States view such investigations and the determination of technical causes as an essential component of accident reduction. The only exception up to now has been maritime transport. There are of course some framework regulations, but maritime transport and shipping are far more complex than other types of transport when it comes to establishing which state is to be responsible for investigating the causes of accidents. A ship owner need not be the operator of the ship and the two of them may come from different states. The seafarers may be multiethnic and multinational. Passengers may also be of different nationalities. The same goes for the cargo and for the client commissioning the voyage. A ship sails from a port in the territorial waters of one state to another, on the way passing through the territorial waters of other states or international waters. As if this were not complex enough, some states have subordinated the investigative bodies we are calling for to different state organisations. They are therefore not even organisationally independent.
The investigation of accidents in the field of maritime transport has been discussed with shadow rapporteurs and with the Presidency. The Committee on Transport and Tourism decided that it is desirable to retain the basic outlines of the draft directive. This involves standardised investigations in accordance with a common methodology, whereby deadlines for determining which state is going to conduct an investigation and for the submission of a final report must be laid down. It is of course open to discussion as to what classes of accidents are to be compulsorily investigated in accordance with the methodology adopted and as to how precisely the organisational independence of the investigative body is to be defined. During discussion of the materials, we reached agreement that the conclusions of a technical investigation may be used for further, for example criminal, investigations. The details of a technical investigation must, however, remain confidential. It was also clarified in committee that it is not possible to ignore the provisions requiring fair treatment of seafarers on ships which have been involved in maritime accidents, unless this is prevented by the inclusion of such provisions in other regulations. There is also agreement that the independent investigative body must comprise experts from several countries and that individual states may reach mutual agreement on representation in the investigation of maritime accidents.
I should like to emphasise that one of the main aims of the maritime package under consideration is to strengthen the responsibility of the flag state. It is therefore appropriate that the proposed wording relating to the rapid notification of technical shortcomings identified should remain part of the directive, as should specification of the ships to which the directive relates. I do not think it would be a good idea, following the experiences with tanker accidents on the Spanish coast, for it still to be possible for several technical investigative bodies to be able to work in parallel. If the European Commission does not feel itself to be sufficiently competent to decide on the conduct of investigations, then the only option is for such decisions to be taken in the European Council. I certainly consider the launch of several parallel technical investigations to be a poor solution. The still incomplete investigation into the accident involving the tanker
shows where such a buck-passing dispersal of responsibility for an investigation leads. It is right that the whole maritime package should be discussed at the same time, thus avoiding differences in the definitions of individual concepts in the various component directives and thus enhancing the clarity of the resultant materials.
I believe that, even with the directive on maritime disasters, we can reach a sensible compromise which will be practicable and will make a contribution to a reduction in the likelihood of occurrence of further maritime disasters and perhaps to a thorough re-examination, including of the technical aspects."@en1
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