Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-11-Speech-2-010-000"
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"en.20120911.4.2-010-000"2
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"Mr President, first of all, I would like to thank and congratulate the rapporteur, Ms Satu Hassi, as well as the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Transport for the excellent work carried out on this proposal. We have been waiting for it for a number of years. It was already clear in 2005 that, with business as usual, sulphur emissions from shipping would exceed those from all land-based sources in the European Union by 2020. In order to reverse this trend, the Commission supported the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in developing internationally binding standards for the quality of marine fuels, which were agreed in 2008.
However, a number of changes introduced in the Commission’s proposal during the first reading deliberations require the Commission to make six declarations concerning: the revision of Directive 2000/55/EC on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues; the use of the ‘non-opinion’ clause for the adoption of implementing acts; the use of dynamic reference to the IMO on the establishment of new Sulphur Emission Control Areas; the use of implementing acts instead of delegated acts for sampling and reporting of marine fuels; the request to the Commission to develop new measures supporting the implementation of the directive by the end of 2012; and finally, the ongoing work to review the EU thematic strategy on air pollution to assess the costs and benefits of additional measures to reduce air pollution from shipping, including the impact of applying a maximum fuel sulphur standard of 0.1% in territorial waters.
We will, of course, pass the full text of these declarations to the plenary services to be recorded in the minutes. The Commission firmly believes that the outcome of the codecision process is a good step forward and it accepts the compromise reached at first reading. So, once again, congratulations on the very good work. It was not an easy compromise but it was very well done.
This was a major breakthrough. The new standards will bring very significant health and environmental benefits and will contribute to resolving problems faced by Member States in complying with air quality limits.
Although they are highly cost-effective for the economy as a whole, the Commission is aware of the potential economic impact on the shipping industry. That is why we have brought forward a set of measures to support compliance with the legislation in a staff working paper entitled the Sustainable Waterborne Transport Toolbox. This work has now culminated in the proposal on which you will vote today.
The Commission is satisfied with the compromise text, which aligns the directive with the international rules of Annex 6 of the MARPOL Convention in respect of sulphur standards and strengthens provisions on enforcement and monitoring.
Let me explain some of the very good reasons which have already been explained by Ms Hassi.
Firstly, the stricter sulphur standards agreed at the IMO will now be introduced into European Union legislation and, hence, will benefit from the European Union enforcement regime. The European Union legislation will introduce the global 0.5% sulphur standard in 2020, while the IMO foresees a review clause with a possibility to postpone it till 2025. We support the choice made by the colegislators as it brings certainty for investors and operators, as well as fairness across the European Union.
Secondly, the directive will allow the use of emissions abatement technologies, such as scrubbers, or LNG as alternatives to the use of low sulphur fuels. These alternative compliance methods allow operators to choose the most cost-efficient compliance option and also promote development of clean technologies.
Finally, the provisions on enforcement of the standards and guidelines on monitoring and reporting of fuel used by ships should result in a more effective control of compliance with the new standards.
I am convinced that this directive will contribute significantly to reducing air pollution and thus will have a positive impact on people’s health. It is also a step towards a more modern and greener shipping industry."@en1
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