On Thursday, Transport and Tourism Committee voted to update EU rules on preventing pollution from ships in European seas and ensuring perpetrators face fines. It would ensure all international standards on preventing illegal discharges from ships, developed by the International Maritime Organization, become part of EU law and as a result become more easily enforceable. The revision of the directive on ship-source pollution is a part of the Maritime safety package presented by the Commission in June 2023. The package aims to modernize and reinforce EU maritime rules on safety and pollution prevention with administrative fines for ship-source pollution, while criminal sanctions are to be addressed in separate legislation being negotiated with EU governments.