Brussels, 17/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - Six years after its creation, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) opened the doors, on Tuesday 16 June, to a new building which will in time become a true headquarters for maritime traffic control in Europe. Located in the centre of Lisbon, on the river Tage, the building - whose conference centre bears the name Loyola de Palacio in memory of the now deceased European commissioner who founded current European transport policy - hosts the whole of the infrastructure needed to ensure monitoring of all ships flying the European flag, irrespectively of where they are located. The centre, where EMSA is currently housed, is also soon to take in another Community agency, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), set in place in 2007. European Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani, Portugal Minister for Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications Mario Lino, EMSA Executive Director Willem de Ruiter, Georg Jarzembowski, former member of the European Parliament (EPP-ED, Germany), and Ana Palacio, the sister of Loyola de Palacio, attended the ceremony.
Welcoming the progress made over these last six years by the EMSA (the setting in place of a data exchange system between maritime agencies (SafeSeaNet), of a long range identification and tracking system (LRIT) and a maritime pollution monitoring system (CleanSeaNet), Mr Tajani highlighted the need to ensure greater coordination between maritime surveillance systems. The commissioner took the view that it is necessary to strengthen cooperation based above all on information sharing between different control centres, mainly regarding maritime navigation, border security and fisheries control. Speaking during the conference on maritime surveillance that followed the inauguration ceremony, Mr Tajani stressed the need to enlarge this cooperation in the maritime area in the EU neighbouring countries, including the United States. The European Commission currently plans to amend the current status of the EMSA (where work is currently only done between member states of the EU and members of the European Free Trade Association) in order to be able to include cooperation with the United States. Failing this, a broader maritime security agreement could be negotiated with the United States whose maritime authorities also acknowledge the need for better dialogue in this field. Also attending the conference were the deputy commander for security, safety and maritime management of the US coastguard, Rear Admiral Brian Salerno, who said that the EU and his country could focus more on “information analysis” and on “targeting dialogue and data sharing”. (A.By./transl.jl)