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EU plans to strengthen rules for offshore drilling

The EU's executive is planning to toughen rules covering accident prevention and liability for offshore oil drilling in response to BP's Gulf of Mexico spill, Europe's environment chief said on Wednesday.
/ Source: Reuters

The EU's executive is planning to toughen rules covering accident prevention and liability for offshore oil drilling in response to BP's Gulf of Mexico spill, Europe's environment chief said on Wednesday.

An ongoing analysis of the 27-nation bloc's environmental rules has revealed gaps, European Union Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik told journalists after a meeting between several EU commissioners and oil industry representatives in Brussels.

"It seems to me that we have a choice between two options. Either we put in place specific instruments (for offshore drilling) or we extend the scope of our existing tools," he said, without giving a timeline for the proposals.

The bloc's environmental liability legislation and its "producer pays" principle -- which now only covers coastal zones -- could be extended to all marine waters, Potocnik said.

The European Commission could also propose the mandatory use of financial security instruments by oil rig operators, which is an idea that EU governments have previously rejected, he said.

The bloc's energy chief, Guenther Oettinger, said EU governments should follow Norway's recent example and issue a moratorium on new deepwater drilling until the causes of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico were known.

"Norway is our most important partner in the North Sea, and I think what is good for Norway should be good for EU member states as well," he said.