MEPs have broadly backed new laws to improve the safety of offshore oil and gas platforms, despite criticism from some Green MEPs.

The proposal debated by the European Parliament on 20 May 2013 has already been agreed in principle with the Council of Ministers, and would require oil and gas companies to submit emergency response forms before being granted a licence to drill in EU waters.

The EU has been looking at new legislation since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, where over half a million barrels worth of oil leaked into the sea.

The European Commission initially proposed that the new law should take the form of a regulation - meaning it would be directly binding upon all countries - but after negotiation with the Parliament and the Council this was changed to a directive.

This means that EU governments have the flexibility to decide how to implement the legislation.

This was welcomed by Conservative group spokesperson Vicky Ford who said it was "a common sense approach", as opposed to the "Brussels power-drive originally proposed by the Commission".

However French Green MEP Michèle Rivasi accused the UK, Denmark and Netherlands of being "selfish" for "watering down" the Commission's original proposal.

MEPs held their final vote on the draft directive during the daily voting session on 21 May 2013.