Brussels, 24/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - After twenty years or so of difficult discussions at the European institutions, the European Parliament and the Council of ministers finally reached an agreement at the end of last week (as we previously indicated) on the draft directive on environmental liability by remedying the problem of financial guarantees. The directive now has to be formally adopted in March by the two institutions. Member States will have three years for transposing the directive into national law.
The directive will now be the first Community legislative instrument specifically based on the polluter pays principle. It will guarantee prevention and reparation of damages caused to the environment (water resources, soil, fauna, flora and natural habitats) as well as the placing of liability on those who are responsible for the damages.
The idea of setting up a compulsory insurance system for these damages, demanded by many MEPs and ecologists is of the uttermost concern to industrialists and insurers, due to the cost. The compromise reached by the EP and the Council involves voluntary insurance schemes. Nevertheless, six years after the entry into force of the directive, the European Commission will produce an insurance report in which it will be able to propose a standard binding system of harmonised mandatory financial security. The European Insurers (CEA) has said that it is relatively satisfied with this formula insofar as it leaves the time to insurers to come up with new products.
The directive will not cover, however, oil pollution (oil slicks), which will be considered separately. In 2003 the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds was created for covering environmental damages causes by oil spills. Contributions to this fund will come from those who buy old products and not be oil tanker owners. Parliament is afraid that this situation could weaken the resolve of shipowers to act responsibly in the activities in which they are engaged. This explains why during negotiations with the Council, Parliament has successfully applied pressure on the Commission to make shipowners more responsible while it draws up produces its assessment report on the directive.
The EP/Council also envisages the possibility of operators limiting their liability under the conditions of the International Conventions on Maritime Claims and Inland Navigation. Parliament would have preferred that this opportunity it not left up to them but did not insist on this point. The issue, however, will be re-examined by the Commission nine month after entry into force of the directive.