Brussels, 02/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is proposing that serious cases of maritime pollution are set at between 5-10 years in prison, as well as fines proportional to turnover and the seriousness of the offence: 10%-20% for the most serious cases, 1%-10% for the others. It is also proposing that Member States are committed to carrying out criminal investigations into suspicious cases; cooperating between them (notably in common investigation teams); determining in common the country in charge of judging infringements and if several are involved, according to a series of criteria (place of infringement, places were effects are felt). These provisions are included in a framework proposals approved on Friday by the Commission and submitted for the Council's approval.
This document completes the draft directive on pollution causes by boats, presented by the Commission in March and which aims to introduce the principle of sanctions for maritime pollution on the basis of Community competency in transport (EUROPE 6 March p 10). Friday's proposal completes the directive, providing details for the level of sanctions and the procedures on the basis of provisions on legal cooperation. This mechanism (principle of sanctions based on Community law and the sanctions themselves based on intergovernmental legal cooperation) was rejected by the Council once in connection with environmental implications. The overwhelming majority of Member States are demanding that all criminal harmonisation measures are entirely based on legal provisions (EUROPE 31 January p 15).