EU into IMO does not quan-go
Posted on | November 25, 2009 | No Comments
THE ratification of the Lisbon Treaty has given the European Union the clearest and strongest signal of its own importance in the world in its history. It has coincidently acted as a spur to its ambitions vis-a-vis the maritime industry.
Opinions about the EU and its component bodies vary greatly but few would disagree that it has been a dynamic and successful force for European unity, aiding economic and social development and laying out a future strategy for regional and international co-operation.
None of these are reasons to grant the European Union – or the European Commission – full member status at the International Maritime Organization.
Mostly, this is because the EU member states are individually and collectively among the most active contributors to the IMO process at member state level. They contribute technical expertise, shipping experience and familiarity with the process that together is often greater than the sums of its parts.
Increasing the role of the European Commission in the IMO process beyond its shepherding process as an observer would be akin to allowing each member state to bring not only its civil service but its quangos and hangers-on as well.
The importance of observer-members to the IMO is growing, in a reflection that the organization accepts that it operates in a wide world and its decisions must be informed by a number of voices. The European Commission is already a contributor to this. Promotion to full membership would be without precedent but could create a dangerous one, encouraging other unelected bodies and interest groups to seek observer status in the hope of bargaining for further influence.
The IMO is a public entity so the European Commission already has a direct line to the secretariat and the secretary-general and presumably it makes use of that channel formally and informally. Would full IMO membership provide any benefit to the organization?
More than anything else, the political implications of the EU or the commission becoming a full member would send the wrong signals. IMO remains the supreme maritime technical body but even its advocates agree that it is not a political player on the same terms as the commission. Now is not the time for that to change.
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