The Charter was activated on November 14, 2002 by the General Directorate for Environment of the European Commission (an authorized user) for the oil spill pollution produced by the tanker Prestige in front of the Galicia (Spain) coast occurred at the end of November 2002.

The Prestige tanker started leaking fuel off the coast of Galicia, Spain, on Thursday November 14, 2002 when it encountered a violent storm about 150 miles off Spain's Atlantic coast. During several days, it was pulled far from the shore, but the crippled tanker carrying more than 67,000 tons of oil split in half off the northwest coast of Spain on Tuesday (Nov. 19), threatening one of the worst environmental disasters in history. The rear section of the Prestige sunk early in the day, taking many of the oil tanks with it. The leak already had spilled at least 7,000 tons of oil.