Damage Resulting from Pollution of the Marine Environment: MAP Works on Guidelines on Liability and Compensation

The objectives of the meeting were to discuss general issues related to liability and compensation regimes applied at the Contracting Party level, achievements, difficulties and challenges.

Experts also drafted and agreed on a programme of work based on the priority needs of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention with a view to promoting and facilitating the implementation of the MAP Guidelines on Liability and Compensation at the regional, sub-regional and domestic levels, as appropriate.

Finally, the work of the experts group also induced a debate on possible future developments with regard to further strengthening of the liability and compensation regime established under the Barcelona Convention/Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP).

During the discussions, it was apparent that the assessment conducted by the MAP Secretariat pointed to the great variety of national situations and certain notable difficulties, which remained to be overcome.

The Member States of the European Union were engaged in implementing the Environmental Liability Directive of 2004, which set forth a high level of environmental protection, but only covered certain fields, namely damage resulting from occupational activities which harmed protected species and natural habitats. Other Parties had also adopted national legislation in the area covered by the Guidelines, in some cases based on international treaties to which they were parties.

However, many of the guidelines are still to be implemented by the Parties and much work remains to be done.

Above excerpt is from UNEP/MAP website.