This Directive addresses such units when they are stationed in offshore waters for drilling, production or other activities associated with offshore oil and gas operations.

In view of the complexity of offshore oil and gas operations, the implementation of the best practices by the operators and owners requires a scheme of independent verification of safety and environmental critical elements throughout the lifecycle of the installation, including, in the case of production installations, the design stage.

The objective of this Directive is to reduce as far as possible the occurrence of major accidents relating to offshore oil and gas operations and to limit their consequences, thus increasing the protection of the marine environment and coastal economies against pollution, establishing minimum conditions for safe offshore exploration and exploitation of oil and gas and limiting possible disruptions to Union indigenous energy production, and to improve the response mechanisms in case of an accident.

While general authorisations pursuant to Directive 94/22/EC guarantee to the licensees exclusive rights for exploring for or producing oil or gas within a given licensed area, offshore oil and gas operations within that area should be subject to continuous expert regulatory oversight by Member States in order to ensure there are effective controls in place for preventing major accidents, and limiting their impacts to persons, the environment, and security of energy supply.

With a view to helping the Syrian civilian population, in particular to meeting humanitarian concerns, restoring normal life, upholding basic services, reconstruction, and restoring normal economic activity or other civilian purposes and by way of derogation from points (a), (c) and (e) of Article 14, the competent authorities of a Member State may authorise the granting of any financial loan or credit to or the acquisition or extension of a participation in enterprises in Syria that are engaged in the Syrian oil industry sectors of exploration, production or refining, or Syrian or Syrian-owned enterprises engaged in those sectors outsid ...[+++]e Syria, or the creation of any joint venture with enterprises in Syria that are engaged in the Syrian oil industry sectors of exploration, production or refining and with any subsidiary or affiliate under their control, provided that the following conditions are met:

In the framework of the progress report provided for pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002, the Commission should also examine the Agency’s potential contribution to the implementation of a future legislative act on the safety of offshore oil and gas prospecting, exploration and production activities, which is currently being examined by the European Parliament and the Council, with regard to the prevention of pollution from offshore oil and gas installations, taking into account the Agency’s established and recognised expertise and tools.