Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-23-Speech-2-277"
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"en.20080923.34.2-277"2
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Thank you, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you in particular to my colleague. After so many years of being an MEP, I am pleased to be here in the Chamber. Mr President, Mr Bussereau, ladies and gentlemen, how could I not share the concerns and aims that have emerged from the outset of the debate on this maritime package?
I understand perfectly that meanwhile Parliament wants to insert into the texts at second reading amendments designed to incorporate the substance of the two proposals that have remained pending. I back these amendments. As for the dossiers that are being officially examined, I know that significant progress has been made in bringing the viewpoints of Parliament and the Council closer together and even though it has not been possible to translate this progress into compromise amendments, I am convinced that the rest of the procedure will be considerably facilitated by this progress. Naturally, I will be able to talk about these issues and the amendments envisaged after having heard what you have to say.
I believe, however, that it is still possible for us to reach an agreement; it would be wrong to say that negotiations are easy, because they will be complex, but I believe that there is still room to attain an objective perhaps even before conciliation; certainly we cannot give up until we have made every effort to achieve the objective of the adoption of all the texts that make up the maritime safety package.
Representatives of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, you can count on the active commitment of the European Commission, all the managers and officials in the Cabinet and the Directorate-General that I have the honour of leading and my staff, in order to seek to achieve the objective of a specific answer for all the citizens of the European Union.
Our concern and the concern of Parliament, which represents the peoples of Europe, is to provide guarantees or to seek to provide guarantees to European citizens that tragic events such as those we have unfortunately had to witness a few kilometres from the coasts of Europe do not recur. There have been accidents such as the more recent one, although it was less serious, in the port of Tarragona, that confirm that our undertaking is right, that confirm that we need to give answers to citizens. Of course, it is impossible to prevent accidents from happening, but we must certainly do all we can to prevent them, through legislation, and through political action.
How can we do this? Firstly, we can do so by making life more difficult for unscrupulous operators, with more rigorous, systematic checks in all EU ports and also with more effective provisions regarding the taking in of a vessel in danger to a place of refuge, and finally through more rigorous control of the organisations authorised to inspect vessels and issue security certificates on behalf of the Member States.
In brief, we need to improve the way in which we tackle the consequences of accidents, obtaining fair compensation for passengers or their families or for the maritime community, and learning more thorough lessons from the investigations that take place after accidents. This is one of the important issues – understanding what happened in order to prevent it happening again. It is these various aspects that you will have to deal with, once the Council has decided on five of the seven proposals in the third maritime safety package.
As we know, the Transport Council last April was not able to consider the proposals relating to the obligations of flag States or the civil liability of shipowners. We should not underestimate the difficulties expressed by the Member States, which also emerged during the course of the informal Council meeting in La Rochelle – concern about a transfer of competences to the European Union for subjects covered by international conventions and the fear of an increase in the administrative burden of checks.
We sought during the Council meeting in La Rochelle – at which Mr Costa was present – and by ‘we’ I mean the Commission and the President, as well as the French Presidency, which I thank for the work it has done in coordination with the Commission to try to get the whole package adopted speedily, without abandoning two legislative texts that we all consider to be very important, as Mr Bussereau stressed.
I really must warmly thank the French Presidency for the action it has taken, its attempt to mediate, and its wish to involve Parliament in what is a very delicate and also very difficult legislative decision. Certainly, I cannot say that I am satisfied with the situation as it is today. There are two issues that are at risk of being put to one side, and they are of extraordinary importance.
The Commission wants the whole package to be adopted, and we will work and persist in attempts to reach an agreement. Europe cannot permit itself to fail to give concrete answers to its citizens; we must have an aim that is simple but binding: that all vessels flying flags of Member States are fully compliant. Our concern must be to guarantee, in addition, that the victims of maritime accidents receive adequate, uniform compensation throughout the European Union.
In La Rochelle, we tried to set out on a path that will lead to an agreement between Parliament and the Council. We are working with the French Presidency, seeking to put forward texts that will receive a positive verdict from the Council and at the same time a positive verdict from Parliament. Yesterday, I met the Federal Republic of Germany's transport minister, and urged that Germany should also play its part; what I am trying to do with all the Member States, in the meetings that I have, is to try to take a step forward by supporting the mediation activity that the French Presidency, together with the European Commission, is attempting."@en1
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