Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – Report assessing the implementation and the impact of the measures taken according to the Directive 2009/16/EC on port state control

One of the most important elements of maritime safety is Port State Control (PSC) which may be defined as the inspection of foreign ships in other national ports for the purpose of verifying that the competency of the master and officers on board, the condition of a ship and its equipment comply with the requirements of international Conventions and that the vessel is manned and operated in compliance with applicable international law.

The EU regime on PSC is based on Directive 2009/16/EC, which re-cast and reinforced the previous legislation in this field introduced in 1995. The EU regime is based on the pre-existing structure of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (PMoU). All EU coastal Member States as well as Canada, Russia, Croatia, Iceland and Norway are members of the PMoU. The Commission and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) work closely with the PMoU.

Article 35 provides that the Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council by 30 June 2012, on the implementation of the Directive and in particular on the fulfilment of the overall Community inspection commitment and the commitment by each Member State. Article 35 also requires the Commission to report on the number of PSC inspectors in each Member State, the number of inspections carried out and whether it is considered necessary by the Commission to propose an amending Directive or further legislation in this area.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)660: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:660:FIN

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