By Emily Smith - 30th March 2004
The European Parliament has rubber stamped a hard-won agreement on proposals to make polluters pay for the damage they cause.
MEPs and national governments last month agreed not to make insurance compulsory for the time being, but to review the proposal in six years time.
The environmental liability directive had been sent to Europe’s last-ditch ‘conciliation’ procedure – reserved for proposals too controversial to make it through the traditional channels.
The six year breathing space was welcomed by insurers, who claim that the market is not yet sufficiently developed to deal with compulsory deals.
But environmentalists were disappointed not to see a tougher deal, and particularly irate that even if compulsory insurance is eventually introduced, the idea of putting a ceiling on liability has not been ruled out.
The proposal should come into force in 2006, taking the review date to 2012.
The commission has been trying for a deal on environmental liability since the late 1980s, with the current proposal tabled in January 2002.
It has proved highly controversial, largely due to the difficulty of insuring things such as trees and animals which do not strictly speaking belong to anyone.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.