Prestige and Near Breakdown of the Safety Regime

This chapter looks at the period 2002 to 2005. On the threshold of the twenty-first century, the EU had established itself as a regulatory force in the maritime world. A new layer—with substantial clout—had been added to international policymaking in the sector. It demonstrates how fundamental weaknesses had been identified at the EU level and corrective action had to some extent been taken. By 2002, the European Commission had tabled two post-Erika packages of proposals (‘Erika I’ and ‘Erika II’), and many of the measures had already been converted into legislation by the Council and the Parliament. Despite all this, yet another dramatic shipwreck—the Prestige—took place and was to exert further influence on the course of these EU policy processes. The chapter explores how Prestige reopened the issues which had supposedly been settled in the wake of Erika. It demonstrates how the southern Member States broke ranks with the rest of the EU and thereby also challenged the EU’s adherence to the UNCLOS. It addresses how the EU and the rest of the maritime regulatory world reacted to this challenge. The chapter outlines how the institutional interaction between the EU and the key actor in the international regime, the IMO, took on entirely new meaning and proportions. Furthermore, it will continue exploring the active role of the European Parliament as an agenda setter and significant arena for debate on, and input to, the policy-making processes in international maritime affairs. Finally, this period brings a sharply intensified conflict between the leading classification societies members of IACS to the fore. The reasons behind will be analysed, along with important signals of a further tightening of their working conditions when delivering maritime classification services in the EU market and beyond.