Environmental issues related to oil pollution in the Mediterranean were addressed by the Conference entitled “Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: is the Mediterranean ready?”, held in Rome on 18 May, 2011, by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, under the auspices of the Italian Parliament, and in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister of Italy – Department of Civil Protection.

Mediterranean parliamentarians, institutional and private sector officials and representatives of NGOs with direct interest in oil resources exploitation and environmental protection have contributed with technical information, statistics and stand-by arrangements on topics such as national emergency plans and current legislative frameworks adopted in the region. The current Italian national emergency plan was presented in great details and provided comparative elements to all other national delegations. ENI, the Italian National Energy Company, provided a general overview of oil and gas related activities in the Mediterranean, including on the risk inherent to deep sea drilling, as well as the current projects being implemented to upgrade oil rig technologies in order to increase safety for the crews and the environment, detailing also their Emergency Response Procedures the Company has in place.

In his concluding remarks, Hon. Nikolaos Nikolopoulos (Greece), PAM Rapporteur on Environmental Issues, highlighted the main aspects that need to be considered at the regional level in a long term coordinated prevention and contingency plan. The Greek parliamentarian referred to existing risks in the region, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions, intense traffic of commodities and oil products. “The risk of collision of ships, with an average of 60 accidents per year, is very high, and we must also pursue legal action more actively against intentional pollution of the seas”, Hon. Nikolopoulos added.

The PAM Rapporteur pointed out that an oil spill accident in the Mediterranean, similar to the one in the Gulf of Mexico, would affect 20 per cent of the basin, which, apart from the environmental disaster, would also have an enormous toll on many sectors of the economy, such as tourism, desalinization of sea water, and fisheries. He emphasized the importance of the role of parliamentarians in raising awareness through the collaboration with the civil society about the risks and the level of preparedness, as well as the importance to debate, and possibly legislate, on the use of dispersants in case of emergencies.

Hon. Nikolopoulos insisted that parliamentarians should address these issues now, in order to have in place the necessary tools and structures for immediate intervention in case of accidents. He also invited the participants to contribute actively in the finalization of his report and resolution, which, he said, will be further amended and enriched after the Rome meeting, before its submission to the PAM Plenary session to be held in Palermo, Italy, on 27-29 October, 2011.

Finally he assured the participants that PAM will continue to work with all public and private stakeholders on this specific topic, as it is a vital issue given the oil related activities, such as exploration, refining and transportation, taking place in the closed seas of the Mediterranean.

The event, took place under the framework of the Special Task Force on Environment within PAM’s 2nd Standing Committee on Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation, presided by Senator Francesco Maria Amoruso (Italy). PAM had been requested by the Union for the Mediterranean, and by Italian Foreign Minister, Hon. Franco Frattini, to dedicate particular attention to this environmental threat, which is of crucial importance to the Mediterranean Sea, as a result of oil related activities, as well as due to the critical mass of oil products transported in the basin.

Participants: MPs from Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Italian Civil Protection, European Commission, ENI, UN/REMPEC, Italian Directorate for Mining and Energy resources, Ministry of Economic Development, WWF Italy, Italian Authority for Energy and Gas, International Ocean Institute (IOI), UNESCO, Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network (MOON), Gargano National Park, Nitti Institute for Higher Education.