The European Union, by the Council Decision 2013/5/EU of 17 December 2012, has announced its accession to the Barcelona Convention Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution Resulting from Exploration and Exploitation of the Continental Shelf and the Seabed and its Subsoil, 1994 (the Offshore Protocol). According to Article 3 of the Decision, the Decision “shall enter into force on the date of its adoption”.
The Offshore Protocol has entered into force on 24 March 2011, following its ratification by the required minimum number of six Parties (Art. 32(4)), namely Albania, Cyprus, Libya, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia. The EU has become the seventh Party to this Protocol, whereas some other E.U. Member States to the Barcelona Convention have also announced their intention to ratify the Offshore Protocol*. The Offshore Protocol is a powerful and important regional instrument which establishes a comprehensive conventional environmental regime specifically governing the protection of the Mediterranean Sea from offshore development activities, taking into account the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982. It covers a wide range of exploration and exploitation activities, and it provides for such crucial issues as the authorization system, the environmental management of harmful and noxious substances and materials used for, or resulting from, these activities, safety measures, contingency planning monitoring, removal of abandoned or disused installations, liability and compensation requirements and coordination with other Parties of the Barcelona Convention at regional level.**
“Major incidents experienced in some parts of the world, and linked to off-shore activities in ever deeper seas, have shown the necessity for common and higher regional standards to prevent the risk of acute pollution accidents. Through the implementation of this unique protocol, the parties to the Barcelona Convention are leading by example”, said Maria Luisa Silva Mejias, UNEP/MAP Coordinator, praising the step forward taken by the European Union.
According to the Council Decision, more than 200 offshore platforms in the Mediterranean are active and more installations are under consideration and these are expected to be increased after the discovery of large fossil fuels reserves in the Mediterranean. As is stated it is possible that soon mineral resources contained in deep sea and subsoil will be subject of exploration and exploitation activities.
Highlighting the importance of the Decision, the Council, stresses that an accident in a semi–enclosed sea, such as the Mediterranean, will have direct adverse transboundary consequences on the Mediterranean economy and the fragile marine and coastal ecosystems. Member States of the E.U. have already the obligation, within the realm of the “Marine Strategy Framework Directive” (2008/56/EC), to take all necessary measures to achieve and maintain good environmental status (GES) of the marine environment.***As is further stated, while the European Union commits to act in support of safety of offshore exploration and exploitation activities, taking into account the high probability of cross border effects related to such activities, the Member States and their competent authorities should be responsible for certain detailed measures laid down in the Offshore Protocol.
In addition, the Commission Communication entitled “Facing the challenge of the safety of offshore oil and gas activities”, adopted on 12 October 2010, identified the need for international cooperation for offshore safety and response capability and it recommended re-launching in close collaboration with the Member States concerned the process towards bringing into force the Offshore Protocol. Also, in the Council Conclusions’ on Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas Activities, adopted on 3 December 2010, it is stated that the Union and its Member States should continue to play a prominent role in striving for the highest safety standards in the framework of international initiatives and regional cooperation such as in the Mediterranean. In this context, the E.U. in its Resolution of 13 September 2011, stressed the importance of bringing into force the unratified Offshore Protocol, especially on the part of the protection against pollution from exploration and exploitation.
The Council Decision also mentions the important Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on safety of offshore oil and gas prospection, exploration and production activities. It notes that the Offshore Protocol concerns a field which is in large measure covered by Union Law, such as of the marine environment, environmental impact assessment and environmental liability. It further declares that the Offshore Protocol is consistent with the objectives of the proposed Regulation including those concerning authorisation, environmental impact assessment and technical and financial capacity of operators.
Finally, the Council Decision calls the Member States that are Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention to finalise the procedures to ratify or accede to the Offshore Protocol.
Notes
* Members States of the European Union which are Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention are: Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia.
** For a critical review of the Offshore Protocol see this Bulletin INSIGHTS by E. Raftopoulos, “Sustainable Governance of Offshore Oil and Gas Development in the Mediterranean: Revitalizing the Dormant Mediterranean Offshore Protocol”, MEPIELAN E-Bulletin, Thursday, 19 August 2010.
*** Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 adopted in July 2008 aims at achieving or maintaining a good environmental status by 2020 at the latest. It is the first legislative instrument in relation to the marine biodiversity policy in the European Union and it enshrines the ecosystem approach to the management of human activities having an impact on the marine environment, integrating the concepts of environmental protection and sustainable use.
Source: European Commission, Official Journal of the European Union, UNEP/MAP
For further information:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:004:0013:0014:EN:PDF
http://unepmap.org/index.php?module=news&action=detail&id=123
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/marine/ges.htm
About the author
MEPIELAN Centre
MEPIELAN Centre is an international research, training and educational centre established by Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos at the Panteion University of Athens in 2008.
Before its establishment as a University Centre, MEPIELAN operated as a successful international research, training and informational programme (2002-2007) under the scientific direction of Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos and the aegis of the Panteion University of Athens, supported by the Mediterranean Action Plan/UNEP and the Greek Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works.
MEPIELAN Centre is an accredited UNEP/MAP PARTNER (since 2013), a Member of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) (since 2016), and a Member of the Steering Committee of the MCSD (since 2019).
On 22 May 2022, MEPIELAN Centre proceeded to the development of MEPIELAN as a Non- Profit Civil Organization (INGO) for the more effective and efficient advancement of its Goals and Missions and furtherance of its activities. MEPIELAN Centre as a Non- Profit Civil Organization (INGO) is registered in Greek Law (Hellenic Business Registry, Reg. No. 16477300100) in accordance with Laws 4072/2012 & 4919/2022 as applicable
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