3.1 Overview
The European Union is an important actor in the global environmental sector, and has been party to the Basel Convention since 1993.(1) Council Decision of 1 February 1993 on the conclusion, on behalf of the Community, of the Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (Basel Convention) (93/98/EEC).By its competence to adopt secondary legislative measures binding for Member States, the EU not only harmonizes the international law provisions on environmentally sound ship recycling in the EU but may also contribute to the development and enforcement of more stringent standards than States may manage to achieve through international agreements. In addition, the conduct of shipowners and other private actors in the shipbreaking business may be directly regulated by Regulations. Importantly, by adopting high standards for EU actors, the EU is also capable of influencing to a certain extent the safety and environmental standards at the scrapping yards located in third (non-EU) States.
The framework based on the Basel Convention is implemented in the Waste Shipment Regulation and is examined further below. This regime has been more recently supplemented by the Ship Recycling Regulation based on the Hong Kong Convention. The latter Regulation applies to ships flying the flag of an EU/EEA State and excludes such ships from the scope of the Waste Shipment Regulation.
As shipowners may always choose a flag for their ships, they may accordingly choose which Regulation will govern their situation. One of the factors relates to estimated costs associated with complying with the requirements of one or the other Regulation. Arguably, the Ship Recycling Regulation may lead to increased costs for shipowners, because it introduces new documentation and inspection requirements and the duty to scrap end-of-life ships only at the yards approved according to the procedure laid down by that Regulation.
The Waste Shipment Regulation has, in any case, not lost its significance because a significant number of European-owned ships fly the flag of a third State. This Regulation is also incorporated into the EEA Agreement and is thus relevant for shipment of waste to or from the EFTA States Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The following section examines the application of the Waste Shipment Regulation to ships to be sent to recycling.