92002E3438

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3438/02

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Council

(2 December 2002)

Subject: Prestige oil tanker accident off the coast of Galicia

On 13 November 2002 the Prestige oil tanker, carrying 77 000 tonnes of fuel oil, had a serious accident off the Galician coast, causing a disaster with incalculable ecological, economic and social consequences for Galicia, an Objective 1 region heavily dependent on fisheries where fishing accounts for more than 10 % of GDP.

1. Will the Council provide special aid to lessen as far as possible the damage caused? Will it mobilise the Solidarity Fund if the European Parliament so requests?

2. Can the Council confirm that the Prestige was sailing from Estonia and heading for Gibraltar?

3. Can the Council say whether it met all the legal requirements to sail in Community waters and enter and leave European ports?

4. Can the Council say whether the composition of the fuel oil it was carrying complied with the criteria laid down by Community rules?

5. Does the Council not believe that accidents such as this could be reduced by drawing up more stringent legislation and establishing stricter controls?

6. Does the Council not believe that these circumstances call for a change to Community legislation to bring forward the entry into force of the double-hull construction requirement?

7. Does it not believe that the transport of dangerous goods by sea needs to be kept at a distance from the coast so as to prevent damage to the marine ecosystem in highly fisheries-dependent regions such as Galicia?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-3282/02, E-3403/02 and E-3438/02

(13 May 2003)

The Council would remind the Honourable Members that it has already taken the opportunity of the plenary part-session in Strasbourg in December 2002 and Question Time in January 2003 to give a full account of its position and intentions regarding the transport of dangerous products by sea.

The Council would therefore refer them to the conclusions adopted at its meetings on 6 and 9 December 2002 and to the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council on 12/13 December 2002.

Since then the Council has begun examining a Commission proposal for a Regulation which would bring forward the dates for phasing out single-hull oil tankers and prohibit the transport of heavy grades of oil in single-hull tankers bound for or leaving European Union ports.

The Council would mention, in addition, that the European Council welcomed the action undertaken by the Commission to confront the economic, social and environmental consequences of the wreck of the Prestige, in the framework of the present financial perspectives, and its intention to examine the need for further specific measures. Amongst these measures it stated that questions relating to liability and the corresponding sanctions would also be examined. On the basis of a report by the Commission, the European Council undertook to address these issues at its forthcoming March meeting.