WRITTEN QUESTION E-3654/02 by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission. Black tide in Galicia: US legislation.
Date: 2002-12-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Galicia, United States, environmental law, environmental protection, legislation, man-made disaster, maritime safety, prevention of pollution

C 161 E/122

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

10.7.2003

received Community part-finance. However, the Commission has asked the managing authorities for
clarification on the point raised by the Honourable Member

Community programmes finance projects which must be located in assisted areas,
in this case, an
Objective 2 area. However, the head office of the firm may be located in an assisted area other than the
one receiving the aid in question. The main point is that the programme should help part-finance projects
which actually create economic activity and work in the assisted area.

(1) Commission Decision 2002/723/EC of 27 September 2001 approving the single programming document for

Community structural assistance under Objective 2 in the region of Tuscany in Italy, OJ L 241, 9.9.2002.

(2003/C 161 E/124)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3654/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(18 December 2002)

Subject: Black tide in Galicia: US legislation

Community legislation on the transport of dangerous and polluting goods is supposed to be similar to the
US legislation introduced after the Exxon Valdez accident, which has prevented such an accident from
recurring. European legislation, which is less stringent than that in North America despite the series of
major disasters along our coasts, was not able to prevent our coastline,
its inhabitants and certain
economic sectors from being seriously affected by the black tide caused by the Prestige oil tanker.

Many experts believe that it is not sufficient to legislate and that it is necessary to implement a surveillance
and control system, as the Americans have done, which would be capable of obliging vessels to comply
with Community requirements, and to set up a European coastguard system similar to that introduced by
the Americans following the adoption of the Oil Shipping Act.

What initiatives will the Commission take in order to ensure that the Member States bring the provisions
contained in the Erika I and Erika II packages of legislation into force more quickly, and also to round off
that legislation with flanking measures based on the lessons which this disaster holds for all of us,
legislators and those responsible in the various governments?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(17 February 2003)

The Commission considers that when comparing the different systems,
policies of the United States and the Union in the light of their geographic position.

it is necessary to analyse the

Following the disaster resulting from the shipwreck of the oil tanker Prestige off the coast of Galicia, the
Commission seized the opportunity offered by the awareness of the risks involved in the transport of
heavy fuel by sea to ask the Member States for the swift application of the Erika I and Erika II packages of
legislation and to propose new measures.

In this context, the Commission adopted on 3 December 2002 (1) a communication on action to be taken
following the shipwreck of the oil tanker Prestige. In its conclusions, the Transport Council of 6 December
2002 supported the Commission’s initiatives designed to prevent the recurrence of this type of disaster and
to counter its consequences. Finally, the European Council of Copenhagen of 12 and 13 December 2002
recognised the Commission’s diligence and welcomed the action initiated by this institution to deal with
the consequences of the shipwreck.

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The Commission has currently already taken all the measures necessary to speed up the establishment of
the future European Maritime Safety Agency. On 29 January 2003 Mr Willem De Ruiter was appointed as
its Executive Director. Moreover, the Commission has also launched the setting-up of the Community
system for monitoring shipping traffic, SafeSeaNet. It has also asked the Member States to bring forward
the compilation of national plans for accommodating ships in distress at ports of refuge and convened a
coordinating meeting on this subject on 31 January 2003.

With regard to new measures, a proposal for a Regulation (2) prohibiting the carriage of heavy fuel by
single-hull oil tankers from or to ports of the Union and speeding up the replacement of single-hull ships
by double-hull ships was submitted by the Commission to the Council and Parliament on 20 December
2002.

The Commission has asked that Council and Parliament examine this text as a matter of urgency with a
view to its adoption. It should be noted that in certain respects the proposed measures are more stringent
than the corresponding American regulations.

Moreover, the Commission has initiated the drafting of a number of new legislative measures intended, in
particular, to impose penalties on any person (i.e. not only the shipowner but also the owner of the cargo,
the classification society or any other person concerned) liable for pollution due to gross negligence.
Provisions will be proposed to counter (deliberate) discharge at sea and will be supplemented with
measures on gathering evidence and prosecuting perpetrators.

(1) COM(2002) 681 final.
(2) COM(2002) 780 final.

(2003/C 161 E/125)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3655/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(18 December 2002)

Subject: Black tide in Galicia: worst affected sectors

The Prestige disaster has hit a region which is heavily dependent on fishing. The coastal fleet has been
paralysed. The damage caused is inestimable. Those coastal fishermen who have been able to go to sea
have already found, even in areas supposedly not affected by the oil spill, that species usually found in the
traditional fishing grounds have disappeared.

Moreover, there is a booming aquaculture industry in the districts affected, which provides a large number
of jobs and helps to make the European Union the largest world producer of mussels and turbot, for
example. The oil slicks have ruined not only the current harvest of both mussels and turbot but also, in the
case of mussels, future harvests as well. It is well known that this industry gathers live seed mussels along
the coast of Galicia, and that this seed has been affected by the oil spill and has now died.

What specific measures is the Commission, and specifically its Fisheries DG, considering with a view to
providing economic assistance for the Galician coastal fleet, and for the mussel and turbot-farming sectors?

(2003/C 161 E/126)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3656/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(18 December 2002)

Subject: Black tide in Galicia: damage to fishing

The ‘Prestige’ disaster has hit an economic sector which is fundamental for Galicia: the fishing industry,
which employs 120 000 people representing 12,5 % of the active population.

What measures will the Commission, and specifically its Fisheries DG, take to help the fishermen, fish-
farmers and shellfish-gatherers in Galicia who have been affected by the Prestige disaster?