13.12.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities L 337/55 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COUNCIL COUNCIL DECISION of 18 November 2002 authorising the Member States, in the interest of the Community, to ratify or accede to the Inter- national Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996 (the HNS Convention) (2002/971/EC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 61(c), Article 67(1) and Article 300(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (!), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (%), Whereas: The International Convention on Liability and Compen- sation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996 (here- inafter referred to as the ‘HNS Convention’) is aimed at ensuring adequate, prompt, and effective compensation of persons who suffer damage caused by spills of hazar- dous and noxious substances, when carried by sea. The HNS Convention fills a significant gap in the interna- tional regulation of marine pollution liability. Articles 38, 39 and 40 of the HNS Convention affect Community secondary legislation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments, as laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforce- ment of judgments in civil and commercial matters (%). () O] C 51E, 26.2.2002, p. 370. (*) Opinion delivered on 11 June 2002 (not yet published in the Offi- cial Journal). () OJL 12, 16.1.2001, p. 1. 3) The Community therefore has sole competence in rela- tion to Articles 38, 39 and 40 of the HNS Convention inasmuch as that Convention affects the rules laid down in Regulation (EC) No 44/2001. The Member States retain their competence for matters covered by that Convention which do not affect Community law. Pursuant to the HNS Convention, only sovereign States may be party to it; there are no plans, in the short term, to reopen negotiations for the purpose of taking into account Community competence for the matter. It is not therefore possible for the Community to ratify or accede to the HNS Convention at present, nor is there any prospect that it will be able to do so in the near future. The HNS Convention is particularly important, given the interests of the Community and its Member States, because it makes for improved victim protection under international rules on marine pollution liability, in keeping with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The substantive rules of the system established by the HNS Convention fall under the national competence of Member States and only the provisions of jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of the judgments are matters covered by exclusive Community compe- tence. Given the subject matters and the aim of the HNS Convention, acceptance of the provisions of that Convention which come under Community competence cannot be dissociated from the provisions which come under the competence of the Member States.