Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, like preceding speakers, I too wish to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Sterckx, on the work he has accomplished in quite difficult conditions and on the close attention he has paid during the many debates that have taken place on the matter. I believe that this report will enable real progress to be made towards achieving greater maritime safety. I shall, therefore, confine myself to reiterating a few points on which I feel there is still room for improvement. The passing of time has revealed new aspects of the sinking of the Prestige and we now know, for example, about the astounding quantity of fuel leaking from the tanks which, we have been told, should have been emptied. I also believe that a temporary committee of inquiry is now more appropriate than ever. It is crucial for determining the causes and consequences of the sinking as objectively as possible, so that we can take the best decisions for the future. The European public would find it hard to understand why our Assembly is not proposing or accepting that just such a committee should be set up. My second point is this: how can we fail to note that those responsible for these disasters are not the people who bear the heaviest financial, economic and social costs? The reign of irresponsibility and impunity must be brought to an end. It is a fact that most of these disasters do not have natural causes and are often the result of actions and management methods that are solely focused on the quest for profit, to the detriment of all other considerations. Consequently, money set aside for investment in the quality of vessels, in their upkeep and in the social conditions and training of seafarers is ceaselessly being whittled away. In this quest for profit, the honest people in the business – and there are a few of them – who do invest in safety are penalised. We must now, therefore, set up a system of compensation in which those who are responsible, the charterers, shipowners, owners and insurers pay for all the damage caused. The victims should be properly and fully compensated. Although Mr Sterckx’s report rightly raises the issue of flags of convenience and how to control them, I believe we should go further and ban vessels flying these flags in European waters, as Parliament called for in a previous resolution. Nor will we be able to resolve maritime issues without the assistance of sailors, without their knowledge, their skills and their representatives. Any decision should be taken in a process of cooperation with those who earn their living at sea and who care about it. I believe that this does not currently happen as often as it should. Lastly, I wish to draw attention to one further point. These debates on issues of maritime safety highlight the importance of actions that are public-spirited and socially responsible. Today, however, what is universally advocated is a policy of liberalisation. In the name of competition, there is a permanent quest to bring down costs. Are higher costs not precisely the price we must pay for improving safety? I believe that Europe must, on maritime issues as on others, take the standpoint of public responsibility, which states loudly and clearly that the main criterion is safety, the world we live in and the lives of those who inhabit it.

Political group: GUE-NGL