4.5.9.     Sea transport: traffic and safety rules

LEGAL BASIS

Title V [IV] of the EC Treaty does not directly regulate either air or sea transport. The Treaty's draftsmen saw no need to include them in it, as international organisations already regulated both sectors.

OBJECTIVES

Safety, in terms of protecting not only the health and lives of people at sea (both crews and passengers) but also the environment, is a fundamental objective of sea transport policy. Studies have shown that the current level of safety of sea transport is relatively satisfactory.

ACHIEVEMENTS

1. General

a. The role of international law
The main legal texts are:

• the 1973 Marpol Convention (Convention on pollution at sea), which was amended in 1978;
• the 1974 SOLAS Convention (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea);
• the recommendations of the IMO (International Maritime Organisation - a specialist UN body).

b. Main points of Community policy
- In 1993 the Commission launched an action programme in a communication entitled 'A common policy on safe seas' COM(93)66. This focused on the development, transposition and application of international rules, the training of personnel and the development of infrastructures. The communication 'Towards a new maritime strategy' COM(96)0081, confirmed the programme.

- In its resolution of 8 June 1993 the Council approved the programme and defined the following objectives:

• effective and uniform implementation of international rules,
• enhanced training,
• improvement of maritime infrastructures and of traffic procedures,
• legal measures concerning civil liability,
• harmonisation of standards with regard to survival craft on passenger vessels,
• risk assessment,
• environmental protection.

2. Basic rules

As there are international rules to regulate safety at sea, the Community's main contribution has been to transpose them into Community law, ensuring they have legal force and uniform application throughout the Member States.

a. Directive 94/58 of 22 November 1994 on minimum training conditions for seafarers gives the 1978 IMO Convention on standards of training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers the force of Community law.

b. In the same way, Council Regulation 2978/94 of 21 November 1994 implements IMO Resolution A.747(18) on the application of tonnage measurement of ballast spaces in segregated ballast oil tankers ^[1]. It aims to ensure that this type of vessel, which is more environmentally friendly than conventional oil tankers, does not attract higher port dues in view of its greater tonnage for the same load capacity.

c. Directive 96/98 of 20 December 1996 concerning on-board equipment aims to ensure uniform application of the SOLAS Convention on marine equipment for commercial vessels and enforce the IMO resolutions deriving from it.

d. Safety of passenger craft
- On 8 December 1995 the Community adopted Regulation 3051/95 on the safety management of roll-on/roll-off passenger ferries (ro-ro ferries) ^[2], which established systems of safety management and made it compulsory for ferry companies to comply from 1 January 1996 with the ISM Code (a code drawn up by the IMO which was not due to come into force until 1 July 1998).

- The safety of vessels which are not covered by international rules is the subject of Directive 98/18 of 17 March 1998 on safety rules and standards for passenger ships plying between two Community ports.

- Directive 98/41 of 18 June 1998 on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships will make it possible to monitor the number of passengers and improve the effectiveness and speed of rescue operations.

3. Instruments for monitoring shipping

a. General monitoring of compliance
Pollution of the seas and coasts is a highly controversial subject. The situation could be improved if international laws governing environmental safety and protection were more effectively enforced. This was the object of Council Directive 95/21 of 19 June 1995 ^[3] concerning the enforcement, in respect of shipping using Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Member States, of international standards for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions (port State control). Its aim is to significantly reduce the number of ships in waters under the jurisdiction of Member States which do not comply with the law. At present many countries apparently do not enforce the international laws on board ships flying their flag. The solution is to adopt the criterion of the ‘port State' according to the port in which the vessel docks.

b. Special monitoring of shipping with dangerous goods
Council Directive 93/75 of 13 September 1993 concerning minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods ^[4] requires carriers to declare the loading of such goods in accordance with international regulations. It also defines the information which the operator must supply to the competent authorities of the Member States for which the vessel is bound or which it is leaving, and the action to be taken in the event of an accident.

c. Harmonising statistics
Again with the aim of providing users with a high-quality service and optimum safety, Directive 95/64 of 8 December 1995 on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea harmonises statistical information.

d. Harmonising monitoring arrangements
Council Directive 94/57 of 22 November 1994 lays down common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations and for the relevant activities of maritime administrations ^[5]. It sets out the arrangements for organisations responsible for ensuring that vessels comply with international standards. It establishes uniform criteria for surveying and certification so as to ensure a standard degree of reliability.

4. Recent developments

Following the wreck of the Erika, the Commission submitted a package of three proposals to improve safety at sea: faster development of double-hull ships and new rules on classification societies and on inspection by the authorities of ships in port (COM(2000)142).

Parliament has strongly supported the provisions governing maritime traffic and safety at sea. When it approved the Commission communication in its resolution of 11 March 1994 on a common policy on safe seas, Parliament stressed the need for better enforcement of existing standards and reinforcement of controls; it also called for national coastguard services to be consolidated into a European coastguard service and for a comprehensive vessel traffic management system. Parliament also called for introduction of a satellite navigation system, the improvement and extension of technical standards and Community criteria on compulsory pilotage.

Following the loss of the Estonia, Parliament asked the Commission to submit a proposal, which eventually became Regulation 3051/95. Its resolution of 1 February 1996 on safety at sea confirmed its 1994 proposals and called for tougher penalties for negligence or omission that resulted in accidents. In connection with the Sea Empress accident off the Welsh coast, Parliament called in its resolution of 27 March 1996 for action to delimit Community territorial waters that are environmentally sensitive or difficult for shipping and define special rules for navigating in them.

PROCEDURE REFERENCES
[1] Cooperation procedure: SYN0481
[2] Cooperation procedure: SYN95028
[3] Cooperation procedure: SYN94068
[4] Consultation procedure: CSN0275
[5] Cooperation procedure: SYN0518

16/10/2000