Parliament vote goes in favour of ‘polluter pays’ regulations

Date: 15/05/03

By Martin Banks

'HISTORIC' new rules which will make companies liable for the cost of environmental damage they cause were approved by the European Parliament yesterday (14 May).

MEPs voted by 312 votes to 179 in favour of strict liability for specified activities and to make it mandatory for companies to take out insurance, or have other cover, to ensure they can pay for environmental damage. Under the new rules, even firms with a permit to carry out a particular activity will not automatically be exempt from liability.

MEPs also voted to broaden the Commission's draft environmental liability directive to include maritime pollution and nuclear accidents.

Experts say the amended directive goes further in the direction of what environmental campaigners were hoping for than business.

Rosanna Micciche, of Greenpeace, said: "We are delighted with this decision. MEPs have rejected broad exemptions, proposed by the Commission, which would have given industry automatic immunity from liability in many cases. This brings us one step further to implementing the 'polluter pays' principle across Europe."

A spokesman for Friends of the Earth echoed that view, declaring: "This should give companies a strong incentive to avoid environmental accidents in the first place."

UK Socialist MEP Bill Miller said: "This is a historic decision and marks an end to the days when firms could cause profound environmental damage and walk away leaving the taxpayer to foot the repair bill."

He dismissed as "alarmist" industry claims that making companies take out insurance could force some SMEs to the wall.

German Green Hiltrud Breyer said: "The Commission must now help the Greek presidency reach an agreement at the June Environmental Council. The ball is now in the Commission's and Council's court."

Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström had earlier told MEPs at Strasbourg that her proposals were "fair and workable".

However, a spokesman for the European Industrial and Employers Confederation, which represents 16 million companies, described the MEPs' vote as "very worrying".

The introduction of an EU-wide environmental liability scheme has been in the pipeline since the early 1990s.

It comes in the wake of a series of environmental disasters including the devastation of the Donana wetlands in Spain, the pollution of the Tizsa river in Hungary and Romania in 2000 and the Erika and Prestige oil spills.

The Commission estimates that some 300,000 sites in the EU are definitely or potentially contaminated and the clean-up costs are estimated at between €55 and €106 billion.

The European Parliament approved the environmental liability Directive on 14 May 2003.