mr president the package has been a very difficult one for parliament and the council
there has been much negotiation and debate and i am glad to see the issues have been finally resolved
the adoption of this package is a victory for the european parliament and certainly for the rapporteurs who have fought to ensure that we delivered on behalf of our citizens even against very strong opposition from member state governments
this law will impact on a variety of areas including the standards of european flags ensuring improved inspection procedures for ships
what we have now is more transparency and stricter inspections
essentially this package will deliver safer vessels meaning a lower risk of environmental disasters and loss of sea life
from the point of view of ireland the timing is extremely important by virtue of the fact that we have a latvian ship tied up in an irish port where the crew have not been paid they have not been given enough food and they have no way of getting back to their member state latvia
these are the kinds of issues that have to be tackled and i look forward to the implementation of the package
