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Journalism of Courage
BRUSSELS, JAN 8: The European Commission pledged on Friday to clamp down on unsafe oil tankers following last month8217;s disastrous oil spill off the coast of France.
The European Union8217;s executive will publish by the middle of this year a report on potential improvements to maritime safety regulations. It also intents to force candidate countries Malta and Cyprus to cut the number of substandard boats operating under their flags, the commission said in a paper published on Friday.
The Maltese-flagged tanker Erika broke into two pieces on December 12, releasing a slick of thick fuel oil which hit Breton beaches over Christmas, causing huge damage to wildlife and threatening the region8217;s tourist industry.
Senior commission maritime policy official Georgette Lalis earlier told a news briefing that the commission had already asked for information from the Italian port authorities, who were the last to inspect the Erika, in May 1999.
She said the failure to prevent the disaster might force regulationsgoverning oil tankers to be tightened further, but said that the commission favoured a voluntary checks and balance approach by the industry with minimal interference by the European Union.
8220;We8217;ll see whether the port state authority checks were carried out properly, and what went wrong. We will also try to find out whether there8217;s a need to strengthen existing rules,8221; Lalis said.
She stressed that international law recognises that the owner of the cargo has liability in such cases and that oil companies already operate a compensation fund.
8220;But we8217;ll have to discuss whether there should be supplementary liability for the owner of cargo under community EU law,8221; Lalis said8220;We would tend to be in favour of a code of conduct or some sort of arrangement with these oil companies,8221; Lalis added.
Eurpoean Union environment commissioner Margot Wallstrom is already preparing a white paper on extending the producer liability for environmental damage, which is due for publication shortly.
