92003E0127

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0127/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(21 January 2003)

Subject: Inquiry regarding the Prestige

On 21 November 2002 the European Parliament meeting in plenary adopted a resolution on the disaster caused by the tanker Prestige, which included the following paragraph:

[The European Parliament] calls on the Commission to conduct an inquiry to determine who was responsible for and the circumstances surrounding the disaster and the respective identities and roles of all of the individuals involved, focusing on: the type of vessel and the causes

of the accident, the origin and destination of the shipment, the degrees of responsibility borne by the shipping company, the captain of the vessel, the state in which the vessel was registered and the owner of the cargo, the individuals involved in the shipment of the fuel oil, the crew's working conditions, the quality of the inspections carried out and the ports used, and to inform Parliament of the outcome as soon as possible, and to check the application of the standards governing the internal market, including the nature of the goods transported, and whether the fuel oil being transported was consistent with the relevant European standards.

There is still great anxiety, concern and indignation about the issue, especially in Portugal, Spain and France.

Can the Commission therefore say what stage has been in the inquiry? Are there any duly substantiated preliminary findings? When will the conclusions be published?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2003)

The Commission has noted the Resolution adopted by Parliament on 21 November 2002. Although it does not have formal powers to conduct an inquiry into the sinking of the Prestige, it is making every effort to follow the work conducted by the various authorities responsible for this task, and to gather all the information requested.

Under international law of the sea, this type of inquiry is the responsibility of the flag State concerned, which informs the International Maritime Organisation of its findings. The coastal States concerned normally also carry out their own inquiries into such accidents.

In this framework, the Commission is already in contact with authorities in the Bahamas, France and Spain which have started inquiries into this disaster. It is also participating as an observer and at the request of the American Bureau of Shipping (the classification society of the Prestige) in the ad hoc audit of this company by the International Association of Classification Societies.

The Commission will therefore report on the initial findings of these inquiries to the Committee for Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism in March 2003 with a view to the public hearing to be organised by Parliament.