CENTRAL FIFE Nationalist MSP Tricia Marwick is taking the fight against the controversial proposal for ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil in the Firth of Forth off Methil to Europe.

She will travel to Brussels early next month to try to establish exactly what measures exist under European legislation to stop the plan going ahead.

The European Commission (EC) has previously indicated that Forth Ports’ proposal could contravene the Habitats Directive and just last week Fife Labour Euro MP Catherine Stihler revealed the company would have to prove the project should be carried out for “imperative reasons of overriding public interest or in the absence of alternative solutions.”

Now Mrs Marwick, whose SNP colleagues MEP Alyn Smith and MSP Bruce Crawford first raised the matter at European level last year, is seeking assurances that this is the case and wants to know how firm a stance the EC will take.

She said yesterday, “In their agreed document, the SNP agreed to support the Green’s proposal for a statutory instrument that would would sort the problem in Scotland.

“Personally, I am not totally convinced by this. The proposal has merit, but we need to sort out the anomalies that allow Forth Ports to do this in the first place.

“That’s why Alyn Smith and myself as constituency MSP for this part of Fife will continue to explore all avenues with Europe, rather than have all our eggs in one basket.”

“I want to go to Europe to find out what is meant by ‘imperative reasons’. There is surely nothing so imperative that would override concerns about the environment and we need to know just how robust the EU intends to be.

“I am not prepared to close off any avenue in the fight to get this stopped, we cannot afford to let it go ahead.”