EU Parliament rejects ship recycling fund

The proposal had been introduced earlier by Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI).

Under the Commission proposal, which was approved by the Parliament, ship owners would have to keep an inventory of any hazardous materials on board. They would be obliged to reduce the levels of hazardous materials before a ship can be recycled, and EU-registered ships could only be recycled at EU-approved facilities. At present, most ship-breaking takes place in developing countries on beaches, where it is far cheaper to recycle the ships than at safer locations in Europe, but which presents a hazard both to the environment and to workers. The 2009 Hong Kong convention was meant to stop this practice.

During the Parliament Plenary session yesterday, MEPs however approved an amendment from the ENVI Committee which calls upon the European Commission to submit by 2015 a legislative proposal for an incentive-based system that would facilitate safe and sound ship recycling.

The vote in Parliament is not a final one, it gave a mandate to open negotiations with Council in order to come to an agreement in first reading.