Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the 'Proposal for a Council Directive on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues'
Date: 1999-03-11
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: harbour installation, industrial waste, load, waste

14.7.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 198/27

4.10.
Transport should no longer be viewed as subsidiary
to industrial and commercial activity, and initiatives must

be taken in support of rational and environment-friendly
transport.

Brussels, 11 March 1999.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Proposal for a Council Directive on port
reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues’

(1999/C 198/06)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Proposal for a Council Directive on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste
and cargo residues [COM(1998) 452 final — 98/0249 (SYN)] (1);

having regard to the decision taken by the Council on 6 August 1998 requesting it to draw up an opinion
in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 15 July 1998 instructing Commission 3 on
Trans-European Networks, Transport and Information Society to prepare the opinion;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 362/98 rev. 1), adopted by Commission 3 on 22 January 1999
(rapporteurs: Mr Niederbremer and Mr Ervelä);

considering the Council Resolution on a ‘common policy on safe seas’ of 8 June 1993 (2), which took the
view that improvements in the availability and use of port reception facilities within the Community were
among the Community’s priority tasks;

considering Council Directive 95/21/EC on the enforcement — in respect of shipping using Community
ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Member States — of international standards
for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions (port State control) (3),
which took the line that such ships should not be allowed to put to sea if they pose an ‘unreasonable
threat of harm to the marine environment’;

considering the International Convention of 1973 on the prevention of marine pollution from ships, as
modified by the 1978 Protocol (MARPOL 73/78), which laid down, inter alia, standards and conditions
for the discharge of waste and residues at sea, as well as requiring the parties to the Convention to ensure
the provision of port facilities;

mindful of the Convention on the protection of the Baltic marine environment (Helsinki Conventions
1974/1992), which will impose stringent discharge requirements on all ships using Baltic ports when it
comes into force on 1 January 2000;

taking into account Helsinki Commission Recommendation No 17/11 (HELCOM, Commission on the
protection of the Baltic’s marine environment) of 13 March 1996, introducing a uniform system of fees
for the handling and disposal of ship-generated waste;

(1) OJ C 271, 31.8.1998, p. 79.
(2) OJ C 271, 7.10.1993, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 157, 7.7.1995, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

14.7.1999

considering the Declaration of the Fourth International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea,
held in Esbjerg on 8/9 June 1995, which sought to secure appropriate improvements in the use of port
reception facilities, as well as a uniform system of fees for the use of North Sea port reception facilities,
so that there is no distortion of competition;

aware of the 1995 Report of the European Environment Agency entitled ‘Europe’s Environment — The
Dobris Assessment’, which stated that discharges from ships were a principal source of oil pollution,
particularly in sea lanes and ports,

unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 28th plenary session of 10 and 11 March 1999
(meeting of 11 March).

1.

Introduction

Industrial development and the increasing global-
1.1.
ization of world trade mean that the seas and oceans are now
being used more intensively as a source of raw materials and
food, a means of transport, and a place of recreation. The level
of marine pollution has accordingly shown a marked increase
in the last few years. Sea transport accounts for approximately
one third of intra-Community trade, which makes it the second
most important mode of transport in Europe after road
haulage. A report carried out for the European Commission
concludes that nearly 700 commercial ports in the Community
receive at least 750 000 visits a year by ships loading or
unloading cargo. In addition, ports in the Community receive
about 900 000 car and passenger ferry visits annually. Accord-
ing to estimates, these ships together produce between five
and seven million tonnes of oil residues and one million
tonnes of solid waste annually and only a small proportion of
this is at present discharged in the ports visited by the ships.
Much of the waste and residues not discharged ashore is
dumped at sea. Quantitatively speaking, marine pollution from
ships is thus more important than pollution caused by oil
spills.

1.2.
International conventions have been concluded in
the interests of reducing persistent marine pollution. Ships’
captains and crews nevertheless pay too little attention to
existing rules and regulations and some ports do not even
have proper reception facilities.

1.3.
The Committee of the Regions therefore considers that
there is a considerable gap between international Conventions
and their actual implementation.

1.4.
The Commission proposal aims to reduce the dumping
of ship-generated waste and cargo residues at sea, thereby
protecting the marine environment.

2. Gist of the Directive

The harmonized implementation of

2.1.
internationally
agreed rules — complemented in some areas by specific
Community requirements — is a basic pillar of Community
maritime safety policy. Community efforts are therefore geared
to effective implementation of the MARPOL agreement and
achievement of its objectives.

2.2.
The Commission’s proposal for a Directive on port
reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues
aims to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to protect the
seas by consistently applying the provisions of international
law. This objective is to be achieved through the provision and
use of port reception facilities.

Unlike MARPOL 73/78, the proposed Directive focuses
2.3.
on the operations of ships in Community ports and does not
regulate discharges from ships at sea.

The laws in place have not so far been effective enough
2.4.
to prevent illegal discharges from ships. Thus, for example,
MARPOL 73/78 does not impose a legal obligation on ships
to dispose of oil waste before leaving port. Waste disposal
costs in European ports have not been put on a standardized
footing and this is liable to distort competition. Expecting the
community at large to bear such costs is at odds with the
polluter-pays principle.

By bringing out a draft Directive on European ports
2.5.
the Commission’s intention is to remedy these shortcomings.
The main points of the new draft Directive are as follows:

2.5.1.
ship-generated waste and cargo residues in ports.

Every ship is in principle required to deliver all

2.5.2.
Every ship pays a standard fee for waste disposal,
irrespective of whether the facilities have actually been used.
The fee is either collected together with the harbour fees or
else charged separately. There is no ‘special fee’ system. The
Directive nevertheless permits hybrid systems comprising a
standard fee combined with a direct fee charged on the basis
of the polluter-pays principle. The waste disposal fee may be
reduced in the case of environmentally-friendly ships generat-
ing less waste.

2.5.3.
ship-generated waste and cargo residues.

Ports must provide adequate reception facilities for

The submission of ‘waste reception and handling
2.5.4.
plans’ by ports is seen to be a key instrument in improving the
provision of port facilities. Such plans would be tailored to the
needs of regular users of the ports in question. The plans
would be monitored and evaluated by the Member States. A
re-assessment would take place at least every three years and
whenever there were major changes in the level of port
activities.

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2.5.5.
Inspection systems and arrangements for the trans-
mission of information from one port to another are to be
further developed. Ships which fail to deliver waste in one port
are to be the subject of a more detailed inspection at the next
port of call.

3.4.2.
that varying fee-collecting systems in Member States
and Community ports must not be allowed to have an adverse
effect on competition which means that the key features of
each port must be respected, such as their size, geographical
and strategic location, as well as the volume of cargo loaded
or unloaded;

3. Conclusions

The Committee of the Regions comes to the conclusion

3.1.
that,

despite the existence of many international Conventions, there
is still a great deal to be done to implement their provisions
and so protect the seas; this has not so far been the case.

3.2.

The Committee of the Regions is therefore pleased:

that, under the new proposed Directive, ports will be
3.2.1.
obliged to provide adequate reception facilities for ship-
generated waste and cargo residues, whilst ships will be
required to use these facilities. This is expected to lead to a
substantial reduction in marine pollution.

3.2.2.
and handling plans.

that ports will be required to draw up waste reception

that a Community-level regime will be introduced
3.2.3.
which will place more specific demands on ports and port
States in respect of
the provision of adequate reception
facilities linked to a waste delivery requirement and an efficient
monitoring system.

3.3.
The Committee of the Regions supports the port-
oriented approach of the Commission with its pragmatic,
political and legal arguments since the dumping of ship-
generated waste, and of operating and cargo residues, at sea is
closely linked to the availability and accessibility of reception
facilities in ports. A substantial improvement in this state of
affairs would facilitate the effective reduction of waste dis-
charges at sea. The Commission’s approach is thus comp-
lementary to that of MARPOL.

3.4.

The Committee of the Regions urges

3.4.1.
that, in respect of fees for delivering ship-generated
waste, standard cost-recovery systems become the rule and
combined systems involving the simultaneous collection of
additional fees remain the exception;

Brussels, 11 March 1999.

that the Directive allow scope for inter-port cooper-
3.4.3.
ation in order to protect the competitiveness of smaller or
specialized ports,
in particular providing the possibility of
drawing up a single plan for groups of ports that are
geographically close to each other;

3.4.4.
re-assessed at rigorously fixed intervals, but
whenever new circumstances prevail;

that waste reception and handling plans not be
flexibly and

3.4.5.
that duly proven waste delivery agreements with
third countries be accepted by the Member States, provided
that such arrangements are satisfactory and reliable. Steps
must be taken to ensure that the quality of such arrangements
— taking proper account of ecological bans and waste
management planning — is proved to be satisfactory. Proof
would be in the form of a Community certificate attesting the
satisfactory nature of the waste delivery agreement concluded
with the third country;

3.4.6.
that the Commission continually update Member
States on changes in Community quality-guarantee certificates
and on duly proven delivery agreements concluded with third
countries;

that

3.4.7.
the existing IMO notification procedure be
used for informing the Commission in order to minimize
bureaucracy;

3.4.8.
that the proposed Directive be based on the rules of
the Helsinki Convention and contain a specific reference to
this Convention;

3.4.9.
that as many states as possible from outside the
Community be allowed to take part in the new scheme since
marine pollution has cross-border implications.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER