The background to this motion is that EU Transport Ministers and the Commission have urged member states to ratify international instruments relating to ship-source pollution prevention, response and compensation at the earliest opportunity. Conscious of the vulnerability of our maritime environment and coastline, Ireland has consistently supported measures by the EU and the International Maritime Organisation to bring about improvements in marine pollution preparedness and response.
The Bonn agreement, as amended, will cover the greater North Sea and its Atlantic approaches. The agreement is a mechanism by which the contracting parties will help each other in combating pollution from maritime disasters and chronic pollution from ships and offshore installations. The contracting parties are Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Commission.
Ireland currently holds observer status at Bonn agreement meetings. Our access and participation in the co-operative measures available from the Bonn agreement have already assisted Ireland in its ability to prepare, prevent and respond to oil and hazardous spills in our zone of responsibility. It has informed our implementation, through national legislation, of international conventions such as the international convention on oil pollution preparedness, response and co-operation, OPRC, of 1990 and the protocol to the OPRC. In September 2001, the contracting parties unanimously agreed to extend an invitation to Ireland to consider acceding to the agreement, as amended. It was amended to broaden the scope of its application to parts of the north Atlantic and the Irish Sea. Ireland's zone of responsibility under the Bonn agreement will encompass most of the present exclusive economic zone, EEZ. This area extends up to 200 nautical miles offshore. Article 8(2) of the Bonn agreement provides: "(i) in no case shall the division into zones referred to in . . . this Agreement be invoked as a precedent or argument in any matter concerning sovereignty or jurisdiction." The contracting parties implement the agreement by: keeping their zones of responsibility under surveillance for threats of marine pollution, including co-ordinating aerial and satellite surveillance; alerting each other to such threats; adopting common operational approaches, so that they can rely on each other to achieve the necessary standards of prevention and clean-up; supporting each other, when asked to do so, in response operations; sharing research and development; and carrying out joint exercises.
The secretariat is based in London and jointly administers the Bonn agreement and the OSPAR Commission, the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic. The Bonn agreement contracting parties meet once a year. The venue rotates among contracting parties. The 2010 meeting is planned for Dublin Castle on 24 to 26 November. The annual costs of membership and attending meetings will not increase on foot of accession by the State. These costs amount to approximately €10,000 per annum. It will be necessary to host two annual meetings every nine years and some occasional workshops, which will give rise to additional costs. The activities of the Bonn agreement organisation are considered to be "cutting edge" in terms of worldwide marine pollution prevention, preparation and response. Accession to the agreement by Ireland will significantly increase our capacity to protect and preserve our marine environment.
