WRITTEN QUESTION E-3585/02 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Location of the European Maritime Safety Agency.
Date: 2002-12-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU office or agency, Galicia, coastal pollution, environmental protection, maritime safety, maritime surveillance, oil pollution, prevention of pollution, seat of institution

C 222 E/90

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

The objectives of EURES including the cross-border activities in the border regions will be valid also after
enlargement,
in accordance with the accession treaties and taking into consideration the transitional
arrangements for the free movement of persons. Preparation for enlargement is one of the key points in
the EURES workprogramme for 2003. The volume of the budgetary means available for EURES will be
subject to the decision of the budgetary authority also in the future.

The Commission believes that an active participation of the social partners is crucial for the success of
EURES. According to the new Commission Decision on EURES the social partners will be represented at
European level both in the High Level Strategy Group and the Working Party. As it has already been
mentioned above, the main principles for the future organisation of the EURES cross-border partnerships
will be established in the EURES Charter. The Commission proposal foresees that a crossborder partnership
comprises the Public Employment Services together with trades union and employer organisations of all
the regions involved.

Besides EURES, especially Interreg funding is being used for the promotion of worker mobility in the
border regions.

(1) C(2002)5236final.

(2003/C 222 E/108)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3585/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council

Subject: Location of the European Maritime Safety Agency

(13 December 2002)

A large part of the intercontinental maritime traffic to and from Europe passes near the Galician coast. The
‘Prestige’ tanker disaster has tragically confirmed that Galicia is, therefore, the area of the world with the
highest relative incidence of accidents of this type. Will the Council now propose locating the European
Maritime Safety Agency in a Galician city? If not, on what grounds? Has any proposal been submitted by
the government of the Spanish state, and has it proposed locating the agency in Galicia?

Reply

(8 May 2003)

The Presidency of the Council made a statement to the European Parliament in December 2002 regarding
action to be taken to reduce the effects of the Prestige disaster. The statement recalled that, at its meeting
on 7, 8 and 9 December 2000 in Nice, the European Council urged an early application by the Member
States of the provisions agreed by the 15 which aimed to improve the European system for reporting and
supplying information on maritime traffic, to establish a European Maritime Safety Agency and to remedy
the inadequacies of the current international system for liability and compensation, where they do not
require an international framework.

The Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the establishment of a European
Agency for Maritime Safety entered into force on 25 August 2002, although it does not include any
provision for the definitive choice of headquarters.

Despite this situation, as laid out in the Regulation the obligation remains to take all necessary measures
for the Agency to be operational within the twelve months following its entry into force. It is planned that
the Agency will be temporarily based in the European Commission buildings in Brussels.

Since committing itself at the Göteborg meeting (15/16 June 2001) to continuing its efforts to come to a
decision on the location of several future organisations, on the understanding that the decision taken in
Edinburgh in 1992 remains in effect, the European Council has welcomed the establishment of this
Agency.

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/91

The inaugural meeting of the Administrative Board of the Agency took place on 4 December 2002. The
Board decided on the Agency’s action plan and agreed that the Executive Director would be appointed in
January 2003. On the occasion if its meeting on 6 December 2002, the Council noted these developments
with satisfaction and looked forward to the rapid adoption of a working programme which would enable
the Agency to be operational as soon as possible and establish the principles to serve as a basis for action
at Community level and in a wider international context. This should include the promotion of uniformity
and quality of port control inspection in all ports of the Member States and, for the Commission, the
establishment and the monitoring of the procedures for the authorisation and control of classification
societies.

The Council has noted the Parliament’s intention as regards the 2003 budget to put 50 % of the financial
resources for the European Maritime Safety Agency in reserve pending a final decision on its permanent
location. If the position of the European Parliament is maintained, it will make it more difficult for those
involved to make the agency fully operational as soon as possible.

The Council has noted the Commission’s decision to provisionally house the Agency on its own premises,
as mentioned in its communication to the Council and the European Parliament on improving safety at sea
in response to the Prestige accident (1). The Council also welcomes the information given by the
Commission in that communication that the Commission has done everything possible to make the
Agency operational six months ahead of schedule.

(1) COM(2002) 681 final.

(2003/C 222 E/109)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3590/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(13 December 2002)

Subject: Specific measures by the Commission to prevent or tackle the consequences of maritime disasters

in the major sea corridor bordering the Galician coast

What specific measures have been taken by the Commission to prevent or tackle the consequences of
maritime disasters in the major sea corridor that borders the Galician coast, in the wake of the successive
tragic disasters which have affected Galicia over recent years?

Answer given by Ms de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(10 February 2003)

On 3 December 2002 (1), the Commission presented a communication on action to be taken to improve
maritime safety and protect the coasts of the European Union.

On 6 December 2002, the Transport Council adopted conclusions supporting the Commission’s initiatives
to avoid a repetition of this type of disaster and deal with its consequences.

The Commission’s action is already producing concrete results. For instance, a proposal for a regulation
prohibiting the transport of heavy fuel oil in single hull tankers bound for or leaving European Union
ports and speeding up the replacement of single hull tankers with double hull tankers was transmitted to
the Council and the European Parliament on 20 December 2002 (2). In addition, the Commission has
started preparing several new legislative measures designed to impose penal sanctions on any party (i.e. not
only the shipowner, but also the owner of the cargo, the classification society or any other person
concerned) which causes pollution through serious negligence.