A Brussels bid to seize regulatory control of the oil and gas industry was described as an “absolute scandal” last night after it was hijacked by green protesters.
More than a dozen new rules for the offshore sector have been tabled by the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee – including plans to give environmental groups a bigger say on the sector.
Green MEP Eva Lichtenberger – from landlocked Austria – was tasked with drafting the committee’s opinion on the legislation and suggesting changes.
The Press and Journal can reveal today that almost all of her proposals have been lifted word-for-word from policy documents drawn up by lobbyists.
The EU wants to set the rules governing North Sea safety and decide how those rules are met.
Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said the likelihood of a major offshore accident remained “unacceptably high” after BP’s Gulf of Mexico incident – and a new safety regime was needed.
But Ms Lichtenberger’s paper is almost identical to that drawn up by Bellona Europa and Oceana, two of Europe’s biggest environmental pressure groups.
Westminster is fighting the move and Tory MEPs are furious that Europe’s policies are being “dictated” by green campaigners
Conservative MEP for Scotland Struan Stevenson said: “It is widely acknowledged that the UK has some of the most stringent oil and gas safety regulations in the world.
“However, Brussels is proposing to wipe away our national laws, declaring that ‘the likelihood of a major offshore accident in European waters remains unacceptably high’, and replace them instead with a centralised system of regulations.
“The proposal for an EU regulation on offshore safety begins its tortuous legislative journey through the European Parliament this month and it could undermine the UK’s industry-leading safety regulations and weaken investor confidence in the North Sea.
“Now we discover that Green lobbyists have effectively been allowed to write a key committee opinion on the legislation. These NGOs are quite simply anti-fossil fuel in all its forms and are sworn enemies of the oil and gas exploration industries.
“This is an absolute scandal and exposes the preposterous double standards which the EU applies when to comes to energy-sector lobbying.”
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore added: “Along with the industry, nobody puts a bigger value on health and safety than us. We have a strong, proud record in the North Sea and, where there have been difficult, tragic episodes, we have learned from them. Our regulatory and safety regime is respected worldwide as a result of that, and our ambition is to make sure we continue to be held in that regard.
“Clearly there are discussions at a European level which have thrown up a variety of issues which need to be addressed.”
Ms Lichtenberger declined to comment when contact by the P&J.