Brussels, 23/04/20007 (Agence Europe): Transposing international legislation into Community law (in particular, the NHS - Noxious and Hazardous Substances - Convention of the International Maritime Organisation - IMO - of 1996 on liability and compensation for damage related to the transport by sea of noxious and potentially dangerous substances) and developing sea motorways in order to allow the development and better protection of the European merchant fleet, which transports 90% of European freight. Carrying this key message, representatives of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), which represents some 20% of the European merchant fleet, visited Brussels on 17-18 April, for their annual meeting with members of the European institutions. The Greek shipowners, whose president is Nicos Efthymiou, spoke of their scepticism towards draft texts presented by the Commission in the Green Paper on the future maritime policy, particularly relating to the nature of the common maritime space and the creation of the “European flag”.
First and foremost, the UGS remained sceptical about the creation of the common maritime space as envisaged by the Commission: a space which will feature permanent monitoring of vessels with a view to helping improve the functioning of internal navigation, the development of sea motorways and short-sea shipping, as the vice-president of the Commission in charge of transport, Jacques Barrot, emphasised on 30 March, at the Hellenic Maritime Day in Athens. Instead of conceiving of this space as a space in which all of the itineraries of vessels and goods can be traced reliably and safely by using the satellite communication long-range distance identification and tracking system (LIRT), the UGS proposes that this be limited to no more than a simplification of the intra-Community administrative and customs procedures.
The UGS remains just as sceptical about the idea of the EU being represented as a whole at the IMO. According to the UGS, this would reduce the benefits of the experience and expertise obtained by the member states. The organisation also fears that the presence of the EU such as at the IMO would detract from its purely technical nature and paralyse the internal decision-making process. It goes on to state that although the idea is very attractive, the creation of a European flag is impossible without a harmonisation of the economic, fiscal and national social systems in this field. “It is without doubt the course to be held” for a long-term prospect, the members of the UGS concede in a press release, whilst asserting that the creation of the European flag is not possible in the near future. (aby)