Marine Environmental Law
I. Introduction
The protection of marine environment as part of the general emergence of environmental consciousness has become of paramount importance for the shipping industry. It is well known that maritime casualties act as catalysts for the creation of international and regional legislation. Therefore, the European Union following the “Erika” and the “Prestige” shipwrecks, which occurred in 1999 and 2002 respectively, has pursued legislative measures in response to the oil pollution of the sea. In this respect, the purpose of this essay is to critically examine the European legal regime of oil pollution affecting the shipping industry with reference to the international system and lastly analyze the current legal rules from an economical perspective.
II. EU Directive on Criminal Sanctions for Ship-Source Pollution
The regulation of vessel-source marine pollution, i.e. pollution of the sea emanating from both deliberate as well as accidental discharges by on-going ships is internationally governed by the Marpol Convention 73/78. Nonetheless, the European Commission questioned the adequacy of the said rules and standards and proposed a Directive to prevent and combat ship-source marine pollution which resulted in the adoption of Directive 2005/35/EU and elaborated upon a Proposal for a Framework Decision on the same matter, namely the Framework Decision 2005/667/JHA which supplements the aforementioned Directive with detailed rules in criminal matters.
The scope of competence of the aforementioned Decision was challenged and led to the ECJ judgment on the case C-176/03 in which the Court held that although neither criminal law nor the rules of criminal procedure fall within the Community’s competence, the Community legislature is not prevented “from taking measures relative to the criminal law of Member States that are necessary in order to ensure that the rules laid down on environmental protection are fully effective”. Additionally, the ECJ judgment of
The protection of marine environment as part of the general emergence of environmental consciousness has become of paramount importance for the shipping industry. It is well known that maritime casualties act as catalysts for the creation of international and regional legislation. Therefore, the European Union following the “Erika” and the “Prestige” shipwrecks, which occurred in 1999 and 2002 respectively, has pursued legislative measures in response to the oil pollution of the sea. In this respect, the purpose of this essay is to critically examine the European legal regime of oil pollution affecting the shipping industry with reference to the international system and lastly analyze the current legal rules from an economical perspective.
II. EU Directive on Criminal Sanctions for Ship-Source Pollution
The regulation of vessel-source marine pollution, i.e. pollution of the sea emanating from both deliberate as well as accidental discharges by on-going ships is internationally governed by the Marpol Convention 73/78. Nonetheless, the European Commission questioned the adequacy of the said rules and standards and proposed a Directive to prevent and combat ship-source marine pollution which resulted in the adoption of Directive 2005/35/EU and elaborated upon a Proposal for a Framework Decision on the same matter, namely the Framework Decision 2005/667/JHA which supplements the aforementioned Directive with detailed rules in criminal matters.
The scope of competence of the aforementioned Decision was challenged and led to the ECJ judgment on the case C-176/03 in which the Court held that although neither criminal law nor the rules of criminal procedure fall within the Community’s competence, the Community legislature is not prevented “from taking measures relative to the criminal law of Member States that are necessary in order to ensure that the rules laid down on environmental protection are fully effective”. Additionally, the ECJ judgment of