Sept 23rd 2008 - Maritime transport

Delivered by Derek Clark on 23 September 2008

Tags: EU's future, Discrimination, Transport, region, joint, debate Vlasto, Automatic, identification, system, IMO

Speech to Parliament Brussels Sept 23rd 2008 Joint Debate, Maritime transport What is this Madam President, "A bridge over troubled waters?" For the UK it was peaceful waters until the CFP got to work and near destroyed our fishing industry. Now you want to ruin our maritime trade.

Seemingly the Sterckzx and Vlasto reports just aim to use the Automatic Identification System with Galileo, to plot ship movements in EU waters. That is, spying on the movement of every ship in UK waters, in our harbours, at anchor off our shores, no matter what nationality. The details will be connected to an EU Data Centre, which, like any database is prone to security lapses.

The IMO fears that data of shipping information, with cargo details, could in the wrong hands, endanger ships trading with Europe. Collecting data leads to control systems and the vessels of our trading partners, especially of our Commonwealth, could be ordered away in an EU trade war. For a nation that relies on maritime trade to feed itself this really is the end of independence.

The EU will decide whether Britain eats or starve. The UK has the greatest interest in these reports for we trade around the world, we've been doing that for centuries, and every UK MEP represents a region, bar one, with a coastline. Meanwhile, as the EU erects its protective trade barriers, all its Member States, whether or not they have a coastline, get to vote on this.

I will encourage my government to reject this rotten proposal for British maritime trade and Global Maritime trade is under threat from bureaucrats you would not trust with a rowing boat. Worse, according to Vlasto the EU will be able to refuse ships access to our waters. So the EU could decide if foreign warships are permitted to visit, those of our friends and allies perhaps?

A nuclear powered ship might be rejected for political correctness, which could apply to the Royal Navy's nuclear submarines. They helped to keep the Soviet Union at bay and guaranteed the freedom you now enjoy. Well, if the EU goes on meddling with powder kegs like Georgia or the Ukraine you might just need that sort of protection again, what price political correctness then?

Derek Clark MEP Brussels Sept 23rd 2008