This morning in the European Parliament, the Environment Committee voted its clear commitment to enhance safety rules regarding Seveso III industrial sites, in other words the most dangerous industrial sites processing chemical substances that are harmful to both human life and the environment.

"With this draft directive, the Committee aims to ensure that industrial sites falling under Seveso directive criteria draw up major accident prevention policy regardless of whether they are "upper" or "lower" tier sites," MEP Sabine Wils explained.

"We are also asking the European Commission to effectively include in the Seveso III Directive the appropriate provisions for oil drilling platforms by 01 June 2013 by means of a review clause. This is due to recent serious accidents on oil drilling platforms and pipelines throughout the world," she added.

The Directive should be implemented by Member States by 01June 2015 at the latest.

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