John Attard-Montalto (PSE), in writing. – It is important to have common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations and for relevant activities of maritime administration.

On the other hand, it is important for the European Union to increase the number of ships registered with its Member States. The ship registers of Malta, Cyprus and Greece have enabled the European Union to remain one of the major global players as far as ship registration is concerned. Through this the European Union is able to raise standards and maintain a certain scrutiny of their vessels.

Without compromising on safety the European Union has to make sure that the vessels on its members’ books do not migrate to other states, especially those known states which enable ships to fly ‘flags of convenience’.

It must be appreciated that shipping is one of the cleanest ways of transportation. It is also one of the cheapest. We must be careful not to overburden this important industry.

All measures taken have to bear this in mind. Transportation by shipping has to be encouraged and this has to be taken into consideration when regulating on the industry without making any compromises on security, health and safety.