Fuente: © European Parliament
http://www.europarl.eu.int/

EU: Framework for Community action in the field of Marine Environmental Policy

/noticias.info/ Parliament adopted a legislative report on Framework for Community Action in the field of Marine Environmental Policy. The aim of the draft directive is to secure an ecologically sound marine environment is a key feature of EU environmental policy.

Indeed, the EU’s 6th Environmental Framework Programme devotes a single Thematic Strategy to the protection and conservation of the marine environment. The European Council has stated its wish to see the outlines of an ambitious Marine Strategy in the course of 2005. In presenting this proposal, the Commission is fulfilling its obligation to establish just such a strategy.

The House says that this Directive establishes a framework within which Member States shall achieve good environmental status in the marine environment by the year 2017 at the latest and take measures which:

(a) protect and preserve the marine environment or allow recovery of it or, where practicable, restore the function, processes and structure of marine biodiversity and marine ecosystems;

(b) prevent and phase out pollution in the marine environment so as to ensure that there are no significant impacts on or risks to marine biodiversity, marine ecosystems, human health or legitimate uses of the sea;

(c) contain the use of marine services and goods and other activities in the marine environment to levels that are sustainable and that do not compromise uses and activities of future generations nor the capacity of marine ecosystems to respond to natural and human-induced changes.

North Sea Oil

The report, as adopted by MEPs on North Sea oil, states that the regulated operational discharges from platforms and pipelines and the use of drilling muds present no significant risk to the marine environment and accidental releases of substances from offshore oil and gas installations have been minimised

All operational releases and releases from shipping are regulated by and comply with international law, the regional seas conventions or EU legislation, and the risk of accidents has been reduced to a minimum.

This Directive is applicable to all European marine waters and, says the European Parliament, take account of the need to ensure the quality of the marine environment of associated and applicant States. The House also says that the following geographic marine areas should be covered:
(a) the Baltic Sea;
(b) the North East Atlantic Ocean;
(c) the Mediterranean Sea. and
(ca) the Black Sea.
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