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BTC Pipeline - Problems for Turkish bid for EU membership
February 26, 2004 12:00 AM
By Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP in European Parliament
By Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP in European Parliament
Mr President, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is being built and funded -including by taxpayers' money - through the World Bank, EBRD and European export credits, even though it does not meet international environmental and human rights standards. This report rightly demands the application of the EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.
Now it appears the coating on pipeline joints is poor and likely to result in major oil leakage and pollution. BP apparently knew this a year before securing the backing of international funders. The credit should be suspended while an independent enquiry is carried out into the safety of the pipeline for local people and the environment, and also into its financial viability, if at least EUR 800 million needs to be spent relaying it.
Turkey's guarantees to the BTC project regarding opt-outs from new environmental and social laws break its obligations under the EU Accession Partnership: they would be illegal if Turkey were already in the EU. The Commission has failed to act, so NGOs are now taking the matter to the European Court of Justice. We must help Turkey prepare to meet EU commitments, not break them.
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