European maritime safety in the doldrums
Posted, September 24, 2008 @ 11:00
European maritime safety in the doldrums
Conservatives fire broadside at the French Presidency on maritime safety
The European Parliament stood firm on safety at sea, as a package of measures sailed through plenary today, Conservative transport spokesman in the European Parliament, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, said today. It puts MEPs on a collision course with the French Presidency because after years of wrangling Member State transport ministers are still blocking two of the original seven reports, namely on flag state obligations and civil liability. The measures are likely to end up in conciliation, an arbitration process whereby the Council of Ministers and the Parliament thrash out a deal on the final text of the law.
The reports form part of a package of measures aim to incorporate International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards into EU law. The EU aims to raise standards by reinforcing the line of defence against substandard ships, in particular through controls of ships in European ports. The Package has largely been welcomed by the Chamber of British Shipping.
Throughout the legislative process, which began in 2005, Conservatives have supported measures that aimed to improve the efficiency of existing measures, such as establishing a harmonised Community framework for conducting technical investigations on marine casualties and improving the exchange of information between Member States.
Some measures caused concern however, and Conservatives lobbied successfully to have overly bureaucratic legislation removed. Timothy Kirkhope MEP, as Transport and Tourism Spokesman, resisted an extension of civil liability provisions to inland waterways which would have substantially increased costs for small operators. Mr Kirkhope also argued hard that smaller fishing vessels should not be required to carry high-tech and expensive positioning equipment.
Mr Kirkhope said:
"Today's vote is another positive step towards safer shipping in EU waters, and I hope the French Presidency will see sense and not delay things further. It's in the best interests of the shipping industry as a whole to see this resolved as quickly as possible.
"However if necessary I am prepared to continue my strong stance, on issues like liability, technical requirements for small fishing boats, and also my opposition to the idea of an EU Coastguard, in the Conciliation process.
"I am proud of the standard of ports and the fishing and freight shipping industry of Britain. Of course we can always do more to improve, but those standards should be seen as an example to the rest of the world."