Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Directive 2009/21/EC on compliance with flag state requirements

Directive 2009/21/EC on compliance with flag state requirements was part of a package of measures known as the 'third maritime safety package', adopted in March 2009 to improve the competitiveness of the sector, benefiting only those operators who respect maritime safety and increasing pressure on owners of sub-standard ships.

The purpose of this Directive is twofold:
(a) to ensure that Member States effectively and consistently discharge their obligations as flag states, notably by making the International Maritime Organization's flag state audit scheme mandatory under EU law and introducing certification of the national maritime authorities' operational management systems; and
(b) to enhance safety and prevent pollution from ships flying the flag of a Member State, in particular by ensuring that none should be blacklisted or on the grey list of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on port state control.

The requirements imposed on Member States as flag states introduced by this Directive are presented in Section 4 of this report, together with the Commission's observations.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)916: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:916:FIN

ESO: Background information: Maritime transport: Progress on safety, but some EU flag states could do better http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-maritime-transport-progress-on-safety-but-some-eu-flag-states-could-do-better/

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