Brussels, 12/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Council has adopted, without discussion, its common position on the Maritime Safety Agency, within the remit of the political agreement reached in December (see EUROPE 8 December). Parliament must now make its decision known in a second reading, on the basis of a report by Greek Socialist, Emmanouil Mastorakis, next July.
Proposed within the framework of the "Erika II Packet. The main duties of a safety agency would be to support and monitor Member States compliance with EU maritime safety rules, evaluate the effectiveness of the rules, collect data and audit maritime classification societies. Given that no overall agreement at the Laeken Summit was reached on the location of the European agencies, the Head Quarters of the Maritime Agency still needs working out. France had blocked the decision by insisting that Nantes be a candidate, whereas the Belgian Presidency proposed Lisbon. Genoa, Piraeus, and Southampton are also possibilities.
The Council is expected to reach a political agreement on creating a committee for maritime safety and ship induced pollution, at its meeting on 26 March. This committee will aim to simplify current committee procedures and speed-up the transposition of international rules in Community law.