Brussels -- Yesterday the
European Parliament voted in favour of the new EU Ship Recycling Regulation
that bans the breaking of EU ships on beaches. The new Regulation only allow
ships registered under the flag of an EU Member State to be dismantled in
facilities that meet the requirements set out in the Regulation and that are
listed by the European Commission. It will also demand inventories of hazardous
materials for all ships visiting European ports. These are all welcomed
elements that have repeatedly been called for by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform
to improve shipbreaking practices globally.
The NGO coalition warns however
that the Regulation will fail to change the current state of play if no
financial incentive is rapidly introduced to ensure compliance with the new
rules.
“Without a financial incentive,
circumvention of European law covering end-of-life vessels will persist and
European ship owners will be allowed to continue to seek significant financial
profits by externalizing environmental and human health costs to the
shipbreaking beaches of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, and to the exploited
workforce there,” said Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO
Shipbreaking Platform.
Several elements left open
The new Regulation asks the
European Commission to elaborate on the possibilities of a financial mechanism
to enhance clean and safe ship recycling: The Commission is asked to “submit
[...] a report on the feasibility of a financial instrument that would
facilitate safe and sound ship recycling and [...] if appropriate, accompany it
by a legislative proposal”. Several other elements that can contribute to ensuring
a more robust legislative framework are also left open for further development,
such as the need to amend the Environmental Crimes Directive (2008/99/EC) to
include breaches of the new Regulation and the need to develop adequate
technical guidance notes on the requirements for ship recycling facilities and
for the certification and auditing of ship recycling facilities outside the EU.
Facilities properly audited and
certified
“To ensure that the Regulation
has a positive impact on improving ship recycling practices globally the
European Commission needs to make sure that the listed facilities are properly
audited and certified to guarantee Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of
hazardous waste; that breaches of the law are sanctioned in line with
internationally accepted penalty schemes; and that ship owners do not simply
flag out to a non-EU flag prior to selling the vessel for dismantling in an
attempt to circumvent EU law,” said Patrizia Heidegger.
Jumping to a non-EU flag not
prevented
The new Regulation does nothing
to prevent ship owners from jumping register to a non-EU flag prior to sending
their ships for breaking in order to avoid falling under the requirements of
the law. In 2012, three quarters of European owned vessels broken on the beaches
of South Asia were registered under non-EU flags such as Panama, Liberia and
Bahamas. With the new Regulation being a further incentive to flag out, vessels
still registered under a flag of an EU Member State at end-of-life is likely to
decline even further to a disillusioning number of ships, rendering the impact
of the Ship Recycling Regulation non-existent for the purpose of improving ship
recycling practices. In fact, the Regulation may even have the unintended
effect of shrinking the number of ships registered under an EU flag, and
therefore making the Regulation counterproductive to other EU initiatives aimed
at building a more robust EU fleet.
Illegality
of unilaterally acting
Recent studies have proposed an
array of possible mechanisms to implement the polluter pays principle for
end-of-life ships and have clearly shown that a financial incentive for proper
ship recycling is legally feasible, enforceable, and necessary.
In adopting the new Ship
Recycling Regulation, the EU will also inevitably be forced to reconcile the
illegality of unilaterally acting in non-compliance with international law –
NGOs, independent environmental law experts and even the European Council Legal
Services have warned of the illegality of the new Regulation.
Source:
recycling portal.
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