Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-07-Speech-3-430"
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"en.20100707.30.3-430"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your invitation to this debate, which I think is an extremely important one. It is fortunate that we are able to hold it on the risks, safety and regulation of offshore oil operations.
After seeing the recent disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, we obviously cannot remain indifferent when we think about the victims and the extremely serious damage – probably irreparable in some cases – caused to the environment in that region, and we now have a duty to learn every possible lesson from what has happened, in order to prevent a similar disaster from occurring in Europe.
We know that the situation in Europe is not the same. We already have stricter operating conditions. Our exploration and extraction takes place nearer to coasts and at much shallower depths than those at which the Gulf of Mexico accident occurred. Nevertheless, we can never be too careful, as the saying goes, and we are right to consider a more preventative policy.
I should also like to pay tribute to the dynamic and proactive approach of the Commission, which, as long ago as 11 May, took the initiative of consulting and interviewing industrialists and which will resume its consultations on 14 July – Commissioner Oettinger will explain this to you in more detail and better than I. I am told that a debate was already held in your Chamber on 18 May.
The Council has also examined the issue, and we held an initial debate with the Commission at our last Energy Council Meeting on 31 May. The initial informal contacts made with the Commission suggest that we could revisit the issue at the informal Council meeting in September, to ensure that pressure continues to be exerted in this area. We also addressed these issues at the various bilateral meetings held as recently as 28 June with the OPEC countries.
The issue now is to determine whether further legislation is needed in this area, in which there already exist several important regulations on the safe operation of platforms, the safety of workers, and so on. We already have, of course, the European Maritime Safety Agency and the Civil Protection Mechanism. Do we need anything else? Do we need to strengthen these regulations further? This is the question which we will have to ask ourselves once the Commission has finished its analysis.
As I said, the Commissioner – and, once again, he will explain matters to you better than I can – is continuing to analyse the legislation and consult Member States and industrialists. On behalf of the Council, I would simply ask that the Commission extend its range of contacts and approach other types of expert, in universities, for example, so that as many points of view as possible are expressed around the table. The idea is that, with the help of this comprehensive analysis – which I hope will be completed soon – we can envisage strengthening the set of EU regulations and legislation in this field, with a review of the regulation on the European Maritime Safety Agency being the first stage in this process. Furthermore, we will have to examine the issue not only of which platforms are currently in operation, but also of which ones are no longer in use and will eventually have to be decommissioned. Once again, this entails major risks and potential environmental risks and naturally raises the issue of financial liability and the technical arrangements for this decommissioning.
Those are all the issues the Council would like us to be able to debate. I should like to assure you, in any case, Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, that the Belgian Presidency intends to ensure that this issue is rigorously monitored, and that it will continue to receive our attention."@en1
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