WRITTEN QUESTION E-1329/03

by Sérgio Marques (PPE-DE) to the Council

(8 April 2003)

Subject: Prestige: Community aid

The sinking of the Prestige off the Galician coast in 19 November 2002, caused one of the largest-ever ecological disasters, with appalling economic and social consequences for a massively fisheries-dependent, and hence fragile, Objective 1 region.

This disastrous accident, which did not affect Portugal solely and simply because of sea-currents, once again raised the issue of safety at sea and how to control transport of hydrocarbons. The issue is of fundamental concern to a country like Portugal, with an immense coastline and extremely vulnerable islands like Madeira and the Azores.

Following the wreck, the Commission presented a Communication on stepping-up safety at sea, providing for: earlier application of the measures in the ERIKA I package (measures on port State control of vessels, closer monitoring of the performance of the classification societies and bringing forward the timetable for

withdrawing single-hull oil tankers from service), and the ERIKA II (measures on earlier establishment of the European Maritime Safety Agency and compensation for victims of oil spillages), greater international intervention and the introduction of sanctions, for pollution crime, including penal sanctions.

The European Parliament demanded that the Council adopt without further delay a common position on the proposal for the establishment of a Fund for the Compensation of Oil Pollution damage in European Waters, in paragraph 9 of its resolution of 19 December 2002. Can the Council answer to the following questions:

1. What is its position on this?

2. If no decision has yet been taken, when will a position be adopted?

3. If there are obstacles to establishing the Compensation Fund in question, what is the nature of these obstacles, and in what do they consist?

Reply

(29 September 2003)

In the framework of the ERIKA II package, the Commission submitted a proposal aimed at establishing an EU supplementary compensation fund for oil pollution damage (COPE fund). However, in December 2000, the Council considered it preferable to ensure a proper and, as far as possible, global regime for liability and compensation in cases of pollution damage resulting from contamination by petroleum products and other noxious and hazardous substances transported by ships. It consequently agreed, in April 2001, on a common approach for negotiations within the IMO framework. The common approach emphasised that an agreement within the IMO on an optional supplementary compensation fund should be reached as soon as possible, preferably by 2003.

On 6 December 2002, the Council (Transport/Telecommunications/Energy) agreed in its conclusions on the safety of ships and pollution prevention, to examine immediately the Commission's proposal for a regulation on the establishment of a Community fund for the compensation of oil pollution damage in European waters (COPE fund), in the event that a supplementary compensation fund for oil pollution was not established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), with the aim of establishing it before the end of 2003. This was confirmed by the European Council on 20/21 March 2003.

The Diplomatic Conference held in London from 12 to 16 May 2003 decided to create a new ceiling for the IOPCF Compensation Fund, in line with the strategy decided by the Council in its conclusions on the subject in December 2002.