WRITTEN QUESTION E-3653/02 by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission. Black tide in Galicia: restrictions on single-hull vessels.
Date: 2002-12-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, Galicia, International Maritime Organisation, Spain, UN convention, freedom of navigation, maritime safety, oil pollution, shipping policy, tanker

C 192 E/126

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

14.8.2003

12/13 December 2002 recognised the Commission’s diligence and welcomed the action it had taken to
deal with the consequences of the accident.

Regarding the inspections carried out on the Prestige in the framework of port State control, the
Commission would inform the Honourable Member that the Prestige had sailed not from a port in
northern Spain but from Russia and Latvia, and was heading for Singapore.

The ship’s last port State inspection was in September 1999 in Rotterdam. After this it entered several
ports belonging to EU Member States or Paris Memorandum countries, including Gibraltar.

In this respect, the Commission, acting within its jurisdiction, has written to the authorities of various
States for information on why inspections were not carried out during the ship’s recent calls into ports
under their jurisdiction.

(1) COM(2002) 539 final.
(2) COM(2002) 681 final.

(2003/C 192 E/125)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3642/02

by Emmanouil Bakopoulos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Detention of Mr Apostolos Mangouras

(10 December 2002)

Mr Apostolos Mangouras, the captain of the tanker the Prestige, has been held in custody in a Spanish
prison for the past ten days. According to press reports, he has not been officially charged other than
being accused of not following orders, though there has been no clarification of what those orders were or
who gave them.

Moreover, the Spanish authorities are not allowing Mr Mangouras to receive a visit from representatives of
the Bahamas (the flag country) who are there to take his testimony.

Will the Commission make representations to the Spanish Government to allow the captain of the Prestige
to enjoy the democratic rights of which he is at present deprived?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(20 January 2003)

The detention of Mr Apostolos Mangouras by the Spanish authorities must be considered as a question
internal security. Pursuant to
law and order and the safeguarding of
regarding the maintenance of
Article 33 of the Treaty on the European Union, it is the Member States, which are responsible for what
action should be taken to maintain law and order and to safeguard their internal security. The Commission
has therefore no competence to intervene in individual cases that are dealt with by the competent
authorities of the Member States.

(2003/C 192 E/126)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3653/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Black tide in Galicia: restrictions on single-hull vessels

(18 December 2002)

Following the Prestige accident, the Governments of Spain and France agreed to expel single-hull oil
tankers more than 15 years old from the zone between 12 and 200 miles, i.e. to keep them out of their
territorial waters, even if they complied with International Maritime Organisation standards.

14.8.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 192 E/127

Even though this is a praiseworthy decision, it has been criticised because it is not in keeping with the
International Convention on the Law of the Sea. Article 58 of that Convention establishes the freedom of
navigation and overflight in this area of the exclusive economic zone, in which any restriction on freedom
of movement must be imposed by the IMO and not by one or various States acting unilaterally.

What is the Commission’s view of this statement by the Governments of Spain and France?

Agreeing on the need to reduce the risk of fresh disasters, will the Commission urge the Member States to
submit a reasoned communication to the International Maritime Organisation, pursuant to Article 211(6)
of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, requesting authorisation to restrict the free transit of such vessels
in this defined zone?

(2003/C 192 E/127)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3657/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(18 December 2002)

Subject: Black tide in Galicia: moving the Finisterre corridor further away from the coast

European public opinion is very concerned at the risks to the coastline stemming from the transit of oil
tankers transporting highly polluting goods at a short distance from the coast. A globalisation process is
taking place in which the grey part, which commits a whole range of abusive practices such as the
exploitation of workers and assaults on the environment, is larger than the part regulated by international
organisations and by states. 60 % of the world merchant fleet sails under flags of convenience.

For example, traffic through the Finisterre corridor, set at a distance of 25 miles from the coast, stands at
65 000 merchant vessels per year, 6 000 of them carrying dangerous goods, which means that a Prestige
passes every one and a half hours.

Will the Commission submit a proposal aimed at setting new shipping lanes further away from the coast,
thereby reducing the risk of fresh black tides?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3653/02 and E-3657/02
given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2003)

The Commission is aware that coastal States need to be able to protect their coastlines from the risks
posed by shipping in areas as busy as Cape Finisterre.

Accordingly, a draft regulation prohibiting the transport of heavy fuel oil in single hull tankers bound for
or leaving EU ports and speeding up the replacement of single hull ships by double hull ships was sent to
the Council and Parliament on 20 December 2002.

In addition, the Commission believes that the international rules of the law of the sea currently lean too far
towards the right to free navigation, at the expense of coastal States’ interests. However, the Commission
itself has no authority to propose the introduction of new measures to keep ships which pose a risk away
from the coasts.

Accordingly, and as announced in its communication of 3 December 2002 (1), the Commission will be
seeking a negotiating mandate from the Council, for those areas in which it has competence, and will
coordinate the Member States’ action in the other areas, with a view to amending the United Nations
Convention on the Law of
the Sea to strike a better balance between environmental protection
requirements and freedom of navigation.