Sicherheit der Schifffahrt und Meeresumweltschutz in Nord- und Ostsee

The accidents of the Erika 1999 and the Prestige 2002 were the turning points in the history of the European Maritime Safety Strategy. The EU established their own directives and regulations, which ever-increasingly exceeded the existing international directives and regulations. Ever since the sanctions of the third Erika-Package the EU emphasizes that it sets its own standards and that it will further develop the Maritime Safety Regulations to fully utilize the international laws. In the Marine Environmental Protection the EU is taking a leading role on regional and international level and can therefore enforce its politics.
The author analyses the European actions for the enhancement of Maritime Safety Strategy and Marine Environmental Protection and detects the roll of the EU on a member, regional and international level. More importantly the author will answer the question whether the EU is taking a leading role in the Maritime Safety Strategy and Marine Environmental Protection and how the future role of the EU in this field can be embellished.
This research paper analyses and evaluates the most important legal bases, regulations, directives and documents thoroughly and gives an overview about the current development on international, regional and member levels.