Port safety

28.5.2003

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1936/03
by Anne Jensen (ELDR)
to the Commission

The USA lays down requirements concerning the level of safety in European ports from which ships depart for American ports. This seems in actual fact to have meant the USA concluding agreements with, and giving priority to, selected European ports which it considers ‘safe’. At the same time, the USA refuses to have anything to do with other ports which are considered ‘unsafe’. This gives some European ports an unfair competitive advantage over others.

 

What action does the Commission intend to take to remedy this problem? For example, will it propose legislation making European ports acceptable to the USA? What would be the main features of such legislation? When does it expect to take an initiative in this area?