EU bans oil tankers, December 2002

Following the 'Prestige' disaster in mid-November which resulted in tonnes of heavy fuel oil leaking onto the Galician coast, the European Commission has taken steps to ban single-hulled oil tankers from EU waters.

In a 'Communication on improving safety at sea in response to the Prestige accident' published on 3 December 2002, the Commission proposes a number of measures to tackle the threat posed by the transport of oil by sea. Although the 'Prestige package' includes a proposal for a Regulation banning the transport of heavy fuel oil in single-hull tankers bound for or leaving EU ports, the emphasis is less on introducing additional legislation and more on ensuring the rapid and effective application of existing Community legislation introduced in the wake of the Erika disaster (in the form of the 'Erika I' and 'Erika II' packages).

Briefly, the Communication:

• calls on the European Council in Copenhagen on 12 and 13 December to approve, as an emergency measure, the lines of action set out in this communication;

• calls on the European Parliament and the Council to examine and support the action and measures proposed by the Commission in this communication;

• stresses the need for the Member States to apply, earlier than the scheduled dates, the measures adopted in the Erika I and Erika II packages;

• proposes a number of additional measures, dealing, in particular, with the problems posed by the carriage by sea of highly polluting products such as the heavy fuel oil on board the Prestige;

• calls on the Member States to take action within the International Maritime Organisation with a view to reinforcing safety at sea and preventing pollution from ships.

An Annex to the Communication gives details of 66 ships which would have been banned from EU waters if the new Erika legislation had been in force (the new rules have a deadline of 22 July 2003). The ships had all been 'detained on several occasions in European ports for failing to comply with maritime safety rules.' The Commission 'hopes that operators will refrain from chartering substandard ships and that the owners and flag States of the ships in question will apply the tougher maritime safety standards straight away.'

The Commission highlights its role in establishing the European Maritime Safety Agency: an Executive Director is due to be appointed in January 2003 and work is underway on an EU 'vessel traffic monitoring system' (SafeSeaNet).

Compensation is another issue dealt with in the Communication - the Commission recommends that a fund of at least €1 billion should be established (within the aegis of the International Maritime Organisation) to compensate communities damaged by major maritime pollution.

The Financial Times reported that the ban on single-hulled tankers 'was initially resisted - by the Netherlands'. However, the impact of the latest disaster and the intervention of the EU's Transport Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio (quoted by the BBC as calling single-hulled oil tankers 'ecological bombs') eventually convinced Member states of the need to act. The Commission wants action to be taken also by other countries involved in the heavy fuel oil trade in EU waters and wants EU leaders to give it a mandate to negotiate with them.

Links:
European Commission:
	03.12.02:	The European Commission takes steps to ban substandard oil tankers from European waters [IP/02/1791]
	04.12.02:	The Commission speeds up the establishment of the European Maritime Safety Agency [IP/02/1800]
	04.12.02:	EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström to visit Galicia on 6 December [IP/02/1803]
	03.12.02:	Communication - on improving safety at sea in response to the Prestige accident [COM(2002) 681]
	Maritime safety: the Prestige accident
BBC News Online:
	06.12.02:	EU to ban single-hull tankers
	07.12.02:	Spanish PM to handle oil spill crisis
European Sources Online: Financial Times:
	06.12.02:	EU acts on single-hulled tankers
European Sources Online: In Focus
	Maritime safety: Oil tanker spill highlights need for tighter EU regulation, November 2002

Eric Davies
KnowEurope Researcher
Compiled: Monday, 9 December 2002

The European Commission has taken steps to ban single-hulled oil tankers from EU waters in an attempt to aver environmental disasters caused when these ships run aground or become damaged whilst at sea.