Make polluters pay!
European Parliament votes on environmental liability
The European Parliament will on Wednesday vote on the proposed
Environmental Liability Directive, aimed at enforcing the “polluter
pays” principle across Europe. However, due to industry lobbying,
the proposals have been severely weakened by a number of amendments.
In particular:
- The
definition of the environment is so narrow that most environmental
damage will not be covered. In addition, only
wildlife
sites will be covered which means that, at best, only 20% of
EU biodiversity and only 13% of the EU land area are covered.
Example: In November 2002, the Prestige sank off the Galician
coast of North West Spain with a 70,000 tonne cargo of oil. Under
the proposed Directive oil pollution is specifically excluded from
its scope.
- The Directive only provides liability for limited types
of damages, excluding ‘traditional’ damages such as personal
injury, property harm and economic loss.
Example: In May 2002, the Organic Agriculture Regulation Committee
of Navarra discovered GM contamination of an organic maize crop
from a GM maize commercialized by Syngenta. The organically grown
maize had to be withdrawn from the organic food chain and could
only be sold as conventional. The farmer will not be able to claim
compensation under the proposed Directive.
- Companies will not be
held liable if they already have a permit or authorization or
if the activities were not originally
known to cause damage. Therefore if the environmental damage
was only apparent at a later date the taxpayer will have to take
on
liability.
Example:
In 1993, spillages of perchloroethylene (a chlorinated organic
solvent)
caused contamination of an aquifer in England.
The Cambridge Water Company had to spend around £1million
developing an alternative drinking water supply. Under these proposals
the company would not be liable as the damage was not "reasonably
foreseeable”.
Adrian Bebb of Friends of the Earth said:
“The ‘polluter pays principle’ is the cornerstone of EU environmental
protection policy. However industry lobbying has watered down
these proposals to such a state that it will give them a carte
blanche to carry on polluting. This will be bad news for the
environment and bad news for the public. Friends of the Earth
urge all MEPs to use their vote to strengthen and not weaken
this Directive. “
Contact:
Adrian Bebb – 00 49 1609 490 1163 (mobile)
More information: Briefing
"Make polluters pay - The Environmental Liability Directive"
Friends of the Earth
is the largest grassroots environmental network in the world
campaigning to protect the environment and to create sustainable
societies.
Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) unites more than 30 national
member groups with thousands of local groups.
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