1.

Asks the Council and the Commission to take into account the following recommendations: (i) Guarantee respect for the principle of conferral of Union competences under Article 5(1) TEU and the settled case law of the Court of Justice which provides that ‘the choice of legal basis for a Community measure must rest on objective factors amenable to judicial review, including in particular the aim and the content of the measure’ (8); (ii) Embrace therefore the opinion in letter form of 19 February 2016 adopted by the Committee on Legal Affairs according to which: ‘since the proposed Council decision is aimed at authorising Member States to ratify, or accede to, on behalf of the Union, the 2010 HNS Protocol and subsequently to be bound by the 2010 HNS Convention and considering that the latter covers not only cases of environmental damage (giving effect to the principles that preventive action should be taken and that the polluter should pay), but also cases of non-environmental damage, both caused by carriage of certain substances by sea, Articles 100(2), 192(1) and 218(6)(a)(v) TFEU constitute the appropriate legal bases for the proposal.’ (iii) Ensure that the uniformity, integrity and effectiveness of common Union rules will not be adversely affected by the international commitments undertaken by the ratification of or accession to the 2010 HNS Convention in accordance with the settled case law of the Court of Justice (9); (iv) Pay increased attention in this regard to the overlap between the Environmental Liability Directive and the 2010 HNS Convention in so far as environmental damage caused to the territory and marine waters under the jurisdiction of a state party, damage by contamination of the environment caused in the EEZ or equivalent area (up to 200 nautical miles from baselines) of a state party and preventive measures to prevent or minimise such damage (preventive measures, primary remediation, and complementary remediation) are concerned; (v) Ensure that the possibility for a conflict between the Environmental Liability Directive and the 2010 HNS Convention is minimised by taking all appropriate action to ensure that the exclusivity clause under Article 7(4) and (5) of the 2010 HNS Convention, whereby no other claim can be made against the shipowner except in accordance with the said Convention, is fully respected by the ratifying or acceding Member States in accordance with Article 4(2) and Annex IV of the Environmental Liability Directive; (vi) Ensure that the risk is diminished of creating and consolidating a competitive disadvantage for the states that are ready to accede to the 2010 HNS Convention, compared to those who might wish to delay this process and continue to be bound by the ELD only; (vii) Ensure the removal of the permanent co-existence of two maritime liability regimes — a Union-based one and an international one — which would result in the fragmentation of Union legislation and, moreover, compromise the clear channelling of liability and could lead to lengthy and costly legal proceedings to the detriment of victims and the shipping industry; (viii) Ensure in that regard that a clear obligation is imposed on Member States to take all necessary steps to achieve a concrete result, namely to ratify or accede to the 2010 HNS Convention within a reasonable timeframe, which should be no longer than two years from the date of entry into force of the Council decision;