{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2013-5/attachment-1/article-20",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2013-5/attachment-1/article-20.json",
  "legislation": "eudn/2013/5",
  "legislation_title": "Council Decision of 17 December 2012 on the accession of the European Union to the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution resulting from exploration and exploitation of the continental shelf and the seabed and its subsoil (2013/5/EU)",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2013-5",
  "path": "attachment/1/article/20",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "20",
  "heading": "Removal of installations",
  "text": "1. The operator shall be required by the competent authority to remove any installation which is abandoned or disused, in order to ensure safety of navigation, taking into account the guidelines and standards adopted by the competent international organisation. Such removal shall also have due regard to other legitimate uses of the sea, in particular fishing, the protection of the marine environment and the rights and duties of other Contracting Parties. Prior to such removal, the operator under its responsibility shall take all necessary measures to prevent spillage or leakage from the site of the activities.\n2. The competent authority shall require the operator to remove abandoned or disused pipelines in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article or to clean them inside and abandon them or to clean them inside and bury them so that they neither cause pollution, endanger navigation, hinder fishing, threaten the marine environment, nor interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea or with the rights and duties of other Contracting Parties. The competent authority shall ensure that appropriate publicity is given to the depth, position and dimensions of any buried pipeline and that such information is indicated on charts and notified to the Organisation and other competent international organisations and the Parties.\n3. The provisions of this Article apply also to installations disused or abandoned by any operator whose authorisation may have been withdrawn or suspended in compliance with Article 7.\n4. The competent authority may indicate eventual modifications to be made to the level of activities and to the measures for the protection of the marine environment which had initially been provided for.\n5. The competent authority may regulate the cession or transfer of authorised activities to other persons.\n6. Where the operator fails to comply with the provisions of this Article, the competent authority shall undertake, at the operator’s expense, such action or actions as may be necessary to remedy the operator’s failure to act.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2013/5/attachment/1/article/20",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T15:15:12.828514+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}