Oil pollution: fund for damage compensation in European waters, package Erika II

The committee adopted the report by Alain ESCLOPE (EDD, F) broadly approving the proposal subject to a number of amendments (codecision procedure, 1st reading). While it welcomed the proposal in principle, the committee wanted to make the rules stricter. For example, it felt that all operators involved in the transport of oil - and not only oil receivers as the Commission had proposed - should be required to make financial contributions. In particular, it believed that shipowners, who bore primary responsibility for the condition of their vessels, should also be made liable. To this end, it specified that every ship sailing in European territorial waters or marine economic interest zones should be able to prove that it held a financial guarantee or else pay a heavy financial penalty.�