EU safety demands go global
published: Tuesday | February 4, 2003
THE EUROPEAN Commission has called on the IMO and international governments to make a stronger commitment towards improving maritime safety. In a letter to more than 40 governments world-wide, EU transport commissioner Loyola de Palacio stressed the need for a radical shake-up to the legal regime governing pollution from ships. As well as asking governments to promote the issue of maritime safety within the United Nations and the IMO, de Palacio also called for an urgent re-examination of "the international rules concerning the law of the seas". The letter goes on to insist that the IMO should immediately set up a flag state code and compulsory model audit scheme to ensure that governments properly implement international
conventions.
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The international scope of the letter represents a change of tack for the Commission. The letter comes only a few weeks after IMO secretary-general Bill O'Neil warned the current EU presidency that unilateral safety measures would be detrimental to international shipping and should be avoided
