MPs legislate for energy impact liability

The parliament on Thursday passed a law making offshore oil and gas license holders responsible for preventing and for restoring any damage caused to the environment during exploratory or drilling operations within Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

The amendment expands the meaning of environmental damage to include damage to marine waters.

Passage of the law was necessary for harmonisation with Directive 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on safety of offshore oil and gas operations.

Cyprus was supposed to have harmonised with the relevant directive by July 19 of this year.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.