Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a system of inspections for the safe operation of ro-ro ferry and high-speed passenger craft in regular service and amending Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on port state control and repealing Council Directive 1999/35/EC

In the spirit of the Commission's REFIT and Better Regulation agenda and as an immediate follow-up to the fitness check on EU passenger ship safety legislation, the Commission puts forward a set of proposals to bring about the identified simplification potential.

The objectives of this revision are to simplify and streamline the existing EU passenger ship safety regulatory framework, in order to (i) maintain EU rules where necessary and proportionate; (ii) ensure their correct implementation; and (iii) eliminate potential overlap of obligations and inconsistencies between related pieces of legislation. An overarching objective is to provide for a clear, simple and up-to-date legal framework that is easier to implement, monitor and enforce, increasing thus the overall safety level.

Council Directive 1999/35/EC provides for a number of types of inspection addressing particular safety characteristics of ro-ro ferries and high-speed craft (HSC). These address specific risks related to undivided vehicle decks giving rise to stability and fire vulnerabilities, very intense activity, the risks of cargo shift, water-tightness issues, hoistable ramps and wear & tear. Notwithstanding the fact that the special inspection regime for these vessels remains necessary, the requirements of this Directive no longer match the realities. The situation today is significantly different compared to almost 20 years ago when Directive 1999/35/EC was adopted.

Today, the vast majority of Member States combine or replace some of the inspections required under Directive 1999/35/EC with either flag state surveys or port state control inspections. This practice renders the implementation and enforcement of this Directive problematic, given the different scope of these inspections and regulatory overlaps. In particular, the legal framework allows for a port state control inspection to be replaced by a Directive 1999/35/EC survey. However, given that the scope of Directive 1999/35/EC survey does not include all elements covered by the port state control, this overlap in fact creates a regulatory gap.

It is therefore proposed to update, clarify and simplify the existing survey requirements for ro-ro ferries and HSC while maintaining the same level of safety and key delivery mechanisms. This is fully in line with the Commission's REFIT programme and aims to further rationalise the inspection effort of national administrations and to maximise the time in which the ship can be commercially exploited.

See also:
- Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/45/EC on safety rules and standards for passenger ships
- Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/41/EC on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships operating to or from ports of the Member States of the Community and amending Directive 2010/65/EU on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)371: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:371:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2016)189: Implementation plan http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2016:189:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2016)190: Simplification of EU passenger ship safety legislation http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2016:190:FIN

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