The fixed European Parliament you limit severeer for the sulfur tenor in fuel for marine use



Today the European Parliament has approved of to widest majority the amendments to directive 1999/32 that fix severeer limits for the sulfur tenor in fuel for marine use to the aim of a riallineamento of the European legislation to the limits established from the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The normative new previews that the maximum sulfur tenor for the European seas comes down from current 3.5% (until the end of 2011 was of 4.5%) to 0.5% within 2020. Moreover the fuel used in the Baltic Sea, the Sea of the North and the English Channel, that is in the zones of control of the sulfur emissions in Europe (SECA, Sulphur Emission Control Areas), will have to satisfy the new international standard of 0.1% within 2015 (against current 1%). At last, in the within of the review of the legislation on the quality of the air, the normative new asks the EU commission to take in consideration limits more rigorous SECA for all the communitarian territorial waters, for example within the 12 nautical miles from the coast.

The European commissioner for the atmosphere, Janez Potocnik, has received with favor the today's pronunciamento of the Parliament EU: "The multiple advantages - it has explained - are obvious: improvement of the quality of the air and cleaner seas, a field of the marine transports more green and the conformity with the international standards". "Currently - it has added - the emissions of the marine transport, because of the fuel combustion for marine use with a high sulfur tenor, contribute to the atmospheric pollution as sulfureous anhydride and of particulate matter, that they damage the human health and they contribute to the acidification. The modification of the directive aimed to reduce considerably these emissions being imposed to the ships to use cleaner fuel and is an attempt to in advance face persistent problems of quality of the air respect to a general re-examination of politics on the emissions by the Commission that will take place before 2013".

Eurodeputata Finnish Satu Hassi, member of the commission for the Atmosphere, the public health and alimentary and relatrice safety on the directive proposal that modification directive 1999/32, after the ballot of its relation that is approved of with 606 favorable pronunciamenti, 55 contrarys and 13 abstentions, has emphasized that "combustible of the very polluting ships they have a serious impact on the atmosphere, but this - it has specified - is also the sanitary reform more important than this mandate parliamentarian. With the atmospheric pollution of the ships that is previewed will exceed the terrestrial emissions within 2020, it is necessary to take part urgently with corrective actions".