DRILLING DIFFERENCES

CURIOUS that the European Union should propose a tightening-up of deep sea oil drilling regulations on the very day that US President Obama lifted the moratorium he imposed on such drilling after the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. His decision came six weeks before the ban was due to expire and there is no cynicism involved in thinking that he advanced its demise because of the mid-term Congressional and Gubernatorial elections in three weeks from now. The lingering protests against the fouling of the waters by BP's oil slick have been replaced by anger at the loss of employment in the area from idle drilling platforms.

The proposal from the European Commission in Brussels is that oil and gas drilling off European coasts should be subject to “best practice” regulations drawn up the Commission and monitored by individual governments. The familiar cries of “EU interference” are already being heard but the case for setting common standards to be observed by all EU member states seems a strong one given the serious, and perhaps still not concluded, damage to the environment caused by the BP disaster. Britain will almost certainly oppose this move as an example of the unnecessary gravitation of powers to Brussels. More than half of the offshore rigs in the EU are in British waters. Their safety record is commendable and could provide the basis of EU “best practice”.