News
Publish date: September 28, 2010
News
The non-legislative resolution jointly submitted by Parliament’s five largest political groups[1] aims at improving the EU capacity to prevent and respond to a disaster which could occur in European waters. As regards producers’ responsibility and liability, MEPs deemed appropriate a possible introduction of compulsory EU-wide insurance for offshore oil exploration and extraction.
In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the article 11 of the draft resolution explicitly “urges the Commission and the Member States to introduce a moratorium on all deep sea oil drilling in EU waters” and to adopt an adequate response and prevention system.
MEPs called on the EU to give special attention to the Arctic zone, considering “its fragility and importance in mitigating climate change”. An immediate Arctic moratorium was demanded by Bellona when speaking to the European Parliament in September.
Bellona welcomes the decision of the Committee and now waits for the existing legislation on liability and security to be updated and completed. “This draft resolution sends a strong message also to non-EU countries such as Norway that the potential consumers in Europe do not want oil or gas produced irresponsibly,” said Eivind Hoff from Bellona Europa.
The full Parliament is expected to adopt the resolution on the 6th or 7th of October.
You can read the motion for a resolution and the amendments.
[1] The MEPs Bogusław Sonik (EPP), Linda McAvan (S&D), Corinne Lepage (ALDE), Bart Staes (Greens) and Struan Stevenson (ECR) drafted the resolution.
Throughout the past year, our mission at the Bellona Environmental Transparency Center has focused on two key, but intertwined issues—nuclear and radiation safety as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, and the worldwide influence of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which itself is actively involved in the war and has participated in the occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
At the beginning of the year, reports in the German and Russian press suggested an approximate 70% increase in uranium imports from Russia to Germany in 2024. But does this reflect broader European trends? It does not. Overall, imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia to Western countries actually dropped sharply in 2024. Unlike the situation in Germany, this is already an established trend.
A Lingen, Germany plant could begin producing nuclear fuel in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, which is directly involved in the war in Ukraine and occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.