Mr President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, the disasters of the past few months have brought to light the inadequacies of legislation, weaknesses in the systems of control and deficiencies in terms of human and financial resources. Initiated by the French Government and driven forward within the European Council of Transport Ministers, the proposed European directives are an undeniable step forward. They are supported by the parliamentary reports we are debating this morning. The Watts report intensifies the measures against ships posing serious risks or flying flags of convenience without abolishing them altogether. The Larrea report on classification societies harmonises legislation, develops sanctions that go as far as the withdrawal of authorisation, and increases compensation in the event of accident. The Hatzidakis report, whilst banning single-hull oil tankers on the same dates as the American bans, nevertheless introduces a whole raft of exemptions which do not go in the desired direction, notably with the proposal to extend the deadlines for the phasing-out of single-hull vessels. My group supports the Watts and Larrea reports. We will vote in favour of them. The vote on the Hatzidakis report will be linked to the vote on the rapporteur’s amendments. The two directives and the regulation we are examining are an asset in confronting the enormous challenge of maritime safety and need to be implemented as quickly as possible. They are nevertheless inadequate in view of the magnitude of the problems that are posed. Many players have stressed that the lack of maritime safety is largely due to deregulation and lenient practices. In the context of increased competition, the primary objective is to transport goods as quickly as possible, at the lowest cost, at the expense of safety, the environment and the crews. In measurable terms, the liberal rationale is effectively opposed to a high level of maritime safety. I reiterate that current European decisions, whilst being a definite asset, do not question this rationale. Hence the amendments to the Watts report presented by my group concerning social standards have been thrown out; yet the importance of the human factor is highlighted in each case. It is a matter of great urgency that measures be adopted to put an end to social dumping and to review the conditions of crews in terms of status, salaries, training and working conditions. To enable effective control to be carried out in ports it is necessary to reinforce the body of maritime inspectors and their qualifications, and hence to free up financial resources. Much more stringent measures must be imposed to make classification societies effective. Flags of convenience must be banned. The consequences of their use in terms of non-compliance with standards are well known. Yes, it is time that the European Union committed itself to actually reforming the maritime system. This demands a strong political will and the financial resources to put in place even more controls. In the run-up to the second package of proposals it seems important to me that we turn our thoughts to promoting the lasting development of maritime safety, which will involve yet further guarantees of safety and quality.

Political group: GUE-NGL