WRITTEN QUESTION E-3181/98

by Angela Sierra González (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(27 October 1998)

Subject: International Year of the Oceans

1998 has been declared International Year of the Oceans by the UN. As the Commission is aware, any evaluation of the state of the oceans will inevitably reveal the seriousness of the greater part of the problems affecting them.

It is essential to update existing policy on the prevention of marine pollution, maritime nuclear transport, the preservation of biodiversity, the ratification of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, etc.

New initiatives are therefore required to enable the Community to play a leading role at world level in policy for the conservation of the seas and their resources.

What measures has the Commission taken, or what measures does it intend to take, to further develop the Community and international legislation and practice as regards marine resource management, with special reference to the International Year of the Oceans?

What concrete action does the Commission intend to take in the following areas: marine biodiversity, ratification of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, open-sea oil rigs, nuclear maritime transport, fishing resource capacity and dumping of waste into the seas?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(22 December 1998)

In addition to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora(1) (the Habitats directive) which addresses a number of marine biotopes, and various water directives which address the coastal zones, the regulation of many Community activities contribute to improving the quality of the marine environment.

The Commission represents the Community in a number of regional international conventions concerning protection of the marine environment. These include the Barcelona Convention concerning the Mediterranean sea, the Helsinki Convention concerning the Baltic sea and the Oslo-Paris (OSPAR) Convention concerning the north east Atlantic ocean. These conventions address issues of regional concern and where there are regional problems may agree on regional programmes and measures that go beyond Community levels of protection. While many of these regional actions parallel Community regulation of land based activity, they extend the level of protection to those parts of the high seas not covered by the Community and address offshore activities such as shipping and offshore oil exploration and production.

This year the contracting parties of the Helsinki and OSPAR conventions met at ministerial level in March and July and took a number of landmark decisions. The OSPAR ministers agreed a new annex to the OSPAR Convention dealing with marine biodiversity, decisions on decommissioning disused offshore oil and gas installations and emission limit values for a number of industrial processes as well as on strategies dealing with hazardous and radioactive substances and eutrophication. The Commission is supporting the work of the European environment agency on classification of marine biotopes and work on the ecosystem approach to marine protection, in the framework of OSPAR.

The Baltic marine environment protection commission (Helcom) ministers agreed on a new annex on pollution from agriculture in order to ensure less discharges of nitrates and amendments to the annex on shipping in order to encourage ships to deposit their wastes in port reception facilities. The Commission has also proposed a Community directive on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues(2). Ministers also agreed a strategy on hazardous substances and on accelerating the development and implementation of integrated coastal zone management plans.

The contracting parties to the Barcelona Convention met in November 1997 and approved a strategic action programme to address pollution from land-based activities, in particular the design and implementation of programmes on pollution trend monitoring and biological effects monitoring. They also emphasized the priority to be given to capacity-building activities.

While pollution from shipping is addressed in these Conventions, Member States also participate in the work of the International maritime organisation (IMO) Convention on marine pollution.

The Commission considers additional Community measures when existing Community legislation does not cover measures agreed in these fora and where it is appropriate.

The United Nations Convention on law of the sea was ratified on behalf of the Community on 1 April 1998 and entered into force on 1 May 1998.

The marine transport of nuclear material is regulated by Council Directive 93/75/EEC of 13 September 1993 concerning minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods(3). Most recently Council Directive 98/55/EC of 17 July 1998(4) and Commission Directive 98/74/EC of 1 October 1998(5) enable the authorities to obtain information about radioactive materials carried and their location on board ships. In addition, the notification to the authorities of the class of the ship under the INF code (IMO code for the safe carriage of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes in flasks on board ships, adopted on 4 November 1993) which refers to the total radioactivity which may be carried on board, will provide more detailed information and thus contribute to improving the response of the authorities in case of an incident at sea involving radioactive materials.

The common fisheries policy foresees measures to restructure fleets and adjust fishing efforts. In addition the Community has decided to ratify the United Nations implementation agreement for straddling stocks, has ratified the Food and agricultural organisation (FAO) agreement to promote compliance with international conservation and management measures by fishing vessels in high seas and has adopted the FAO code of conduct for responsible fisheries.

The Commission organized, with non governmental organisations, a conference on waste and the oceans in Lisbon in June 1998 shortly before the OSPAR ministerial meeting in Sintra. The conference received no specific request for legislation additional to that already in place or in preparation. No new initiatives in the field of marine pollution are envisaged. It was however stressed that implementation of and compliance with existing legislation is often insufficient and problematic.

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992.

(2) OJ C 271, 31.8.1998.

(3) OJ L 247, 5.10.1993.

(4) OJ L 215, 1.8.1998.

(5) OJ L 276, 13.10.1998.