Brussels, 29/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - Monday's Transport Council (see above) will begin its work with a two-hour, broad public debate on maritime safety. Ministers will state their positions on the three measures proposed by the European Commission on 21 March and on the new initiatives announced to avoid further pollution of Europe's coasts. They will base their debate on the Commission's report for submission to the European Summit in Biarritz (see EUROPE of 28 September, page 11) and on a questionnaire prepared by the Presidency.
In its communication released in March, the Commission proposed three measures: 1) the transfer to the Commission of the powers of selection and monitoring of classification companies charged with inspecting vessels on behalf of Member States; 2) compulsory inspections of vessels showing a high level of risk, according to the criteria laid down in the Paris Memorandum on State Control of Ports; 3) elimination of single-hull oil tankers by 2006, rather than 2026, as foreseen by the Marpol Convention. The Council reached a large measure of agreement last June on the directive on classification companies and is awaiting Parliament's position; the EP is due to state its view at first reading on 11 December. Member States are also close to agreement on port inspections of vessels, but on the basis of a compromise the Commission finds unacceptable: several Member States, notably the Netherlands, argue that they do not have enough inspectors to conduct these controls, and the Council is therefore planning to reduce the number of compulsory inspections, which the Commission rejects.
The principal differences concern the elimination of single-hull oil tankers. Greece, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden argued at earlier Councils in favour of multilateral measures rather than European measures alone. Greece is vehemently opposed to the timeframe proposed by the Commission, which it deems unrealistic (see EUROPE of 6 September, page 11). The objective of Monday's Council is to adopt unanimously its common position for the IMO meeting in London from 2 to 6 October. Certain Member States are nonetheless not ruling out expressing their views individually to the IMO.
Lastly, the French Presidency will be preparing future initiatives by putting five questions to the Ministers: 1) surveillance of maritime navigation: Should Community legislation be put in place making it compulsory to signal the existence of high-risk vessels and to exchange information between surveillance centres? 2) compensation to victims of pollution from hydrocarbons: Should measures be foreseen in addition to the fund established by the International Convention on Civil Liability for damage resulting from pollution by hydrocarbons and the International Convention creating the FIPOL? 3) Liability system: Is it advisable to create a European measure making all players responsible (shipowners, charterers, cargo owners, etc.) and to penalise the use of vessels of lower quality? 4) European maritime safety structure: Should such a structure coordinate the actions of Member States, replace them or control their action? 5) social harmonisation in maritime transport: Should a maritime social policy be defined?