The European Parliament adopted 638 votes to 7, with
35 abstentions, a resolution on the draft Council decision on the
ratification and accession by Member States, in the interest of the
European Union, to the Protocol of 2010 to the International
Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection
with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, with
regard to the aspects related to judicial cooperation in civil
matters.
To recall, the aim of the 2010 HNS Convention is to
ensure accountability and the payment of adequate, prompt and
effective compensation for loss or damage to persons, property and
the environment arising from the carriage of hazardous and noxious
substances by sea through the specialised International HNS
compensation fund.
Based on the interim report presented by the Committee
on Legal Affairs, Parliament called on the Council and the
Commission to take into consideration the following
recommendations:
- ensure that the uniformity, integrity and
effectiveness of common Union rules will not be adversely
affected by the international commitments undertaken by the
ratification of or accession to the 2010 HNS Convention in
accordance with the settled case law of the Court of
Justice;
- pay greater attention in this regard to the
overlap between the recast
of Brussels I Regulation and the 2010 HNS Convention in so far
as rules of procedure applicable to claims and actions under the
said Convention before courts of state parties are
concerned;
- ensure that the possibility for a conflict
between the Directive
on environmental liability and the 2010 HNS
Convention;
- ensure that the risk is diminished of creating and
consolidating a competitive disadvantage for the states that
are ready to accede to the 2010 HNS Convention, compared to those
who might wish to delay this process and continue to be bound by
the ELD only;
- ensure the removal of the permanent
co-existence of two maritime liability regimes - a Union-based
one and an international one;
- ensure that a clear obligation is imposed on
Member States to take all necessary steps to achieve a concrete
result, namely to ratify or accede to the 2010 HNS Convention
within a reasonable timeframe, which should be no longer than two
years from the date of entry into force of the Council
decision.
Parliament concluded that this resolution would be a
further possibility for the Council and the Commission to address
the recommendations set out above.