EU: NGOs slate parliament’s marine strategy

The newly adopted EU Marine Strategy Directive sadly fails to introduce rules to prevent polluting and overfishing in Europe?s seas, Greenpeace said today.

While the European Parliament has worked to significantly strengthen the legislative text, to come into force in 2008, the Council of Ministers has insisted on some major loopholes and weak language. Today?s vote in the European Parliament effectively seals this deal between both houses.

?Certain Member States, such as the UK and the Netherlands, have fought to keep this Directive as weak as possible, even exempting Member States from taking action altogether, where implementation costs are considered too high,? said Greenpeace EU Marine Policy Director Saskia Richartz.

The Directive will require Member States to take all necessary measures to achieve a Good Environmental Status in their marine waters by 2020 at the latest, with the exception of where loopholes and exemptions come into effect. However, the Directive does not specify what type of measures must be taken to achieve a good environmental status and nor does it restrict any maritime activities, such as oil, gas and gravel extraction, shipping and fishing. Member States will have to individually come up with national action plans at a later stage.
Provisions on the designation of marine protected areas are one exception, with the Directive clearly stating that marine protected areas must be part of the national programmes of measures.

?The European Parliament deserves credit for fighting to keep the standards up in this Directive. With so many aspects of implementation still to be decided by the very governments that sought to dilute the deal, now is the time for everyone to remain vigilant. One of the first priorities must be to deliver a network of marine reserves,? concluded Richartz.

More info:
www.greenpeace.org