European ports to have reception facilities for ship waste
In a move to curb marine pollution, the European Parliament has agreed to a compromise with the Council on the details of a directive calling for reception facilities for waste from boats and cargo residues in European ports. The directive aims to achieve a major reduction in marine pollution by providing adequate facilities to cope with waste in European ports. Before now MEPs disagreed with the Council over how the facilities might be financed. Parliament wanted up to 90 per cent of the costs to be met through a charge on all boats, regardless of how much waste they produced. However, the Council was against determining percentages at this stage, arguing that the Member States should be allowed to set the amount themselves. Now the Council has agreed that this amount must be 'significant' and will issue a declaration in annex to the final act in the Official Journal of the European Communities, stating that this means no less than 30 per cent.