Press release - October 9, 2007
Brussels, Belgium — The European Parliament's Environment Committee today confirmed its call for a determined Europe-wide effort to protect the sea. Greenpeace is encouraged by the overall outcome of the vote, but urges the Parliament not to falter under increasing pressure from the nuclear and maritime industries.
In one out of two places, the Parliament has accepted Council text that would release Member States from the provisions of the Directive in instances where an environmental threat is not deemed significant or where the cost of implementing conservation measures is deemed unreasonable. The Parliament has further deleted reference to nuclear pollution, seemingly under pressure by the nuclear industry (1), and has bowed to pressure from the oil, gas and shipping sectors by deleting targets for achieving a good environmental status that relate to hazardous substances and to harmful releases from oil platforms, pipelines and ships.
"While on the whole the Parliament strengthens the draft Directive, Parliamentarians are evidently under pressure to provide exemptions for some of the biggest emitters of toxic substances. This and the notion that marine protection must come cheap may undermine the very objectives of marine protection, sustainability and human health," says Saskia Richartz, EU Marine Policy Advisor for Greenpeace.
The vote comes just one week after news broke of a Commission internal study that describes Europe's fishing policy as "poor", with its waters among the most overfished and the industry among the least profitable in the world. (2) Greenpeace, alongside other NGOs, has been calling on the European Parliament and Member States to ensure that the Marine Strategy Directive will provide all-round protection and recover marine ecosystems not least from the damage caused by fishing. The Parliament foresees, amongst other measures, the creation of marine protected areas in which fishing and other extractive activities are prohibited, as one mechanism to tackle the continued overexploitation of Europe's sea.
Today's vote reinstates around 90 amendments, most of which would present a significant improvement on the Council's draft text, if accepted in a later compromise. (1) Other important changes to the Directive endorsed by the Environment Committee include: the bringing forward to 2017 of the deadline for member states to clean up their marine environments, the setting of specific and legally binding criteria for the definition of a European "good environmental status" applicable to oceans and seas, and the better integration of environmental concerns into other Community policies - including the Common Fisheries Policy.
Notes:
(1) The nuclear fuel reprocessing plants "La Hague", on the French Atlantic coast, and "Sellafield", on the British northwest coast, are the two biggest point sources of nuclear pollution to Europe's seas. La Hague, for instance, releases one million litres of liquid radioactive waste into the Atlantic per day.
(2) Financial Times, 27 September 2007: "Report tears into Brussels Fishing policy" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20999075/
(3) Common position adopted by the Council on 12 July 2007, with a view to the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Framework for Community Action in the field of Marine Environmental Policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/07/st09/st09388.en07.pdf