REPORT on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports
(COM(2001) 46 – C5‑0051/2001 – 2001/0026(COD))

11 October 2001 - ***I

Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism
Rapporteur: Ari Vatanen

PROCEDURAL PAGE

By letter of 7 February 2001 the Commission submitted to Parliament, pursuant to Article 251(2) and Article 80(2) of the EC Treaty, the proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports (COM(2001) 46 - 2001/0026 (COD)).

At the sitting of 15 February 2001 the President of Parliament announced that she had referred this proposal to the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism as the committee responsible and the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy for their opinions (C5-0051/2001).

The Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism appointed Ari Vatanen rapporteur at its meeting of 20 March 2001.

The committee considered the Commission proposal and draft report at its meetings of 12 September 2001 and 10 October 2001.

At the latter meeting it adopted the draft legislative resolution unanimously.

The following were present for the vote: Konstantinos Hatzidakis, chairman; Rijk van Dam, Helmuth Markov and Emmanouil Mastorakis, vice-chairmen; Ari Vatanen, rapporteur; Pedro Aparicio Sánchez (for Carmen Cerdeira Morterero), Emmanouil Bakopoulos, Rolf Berend, Theodorus J.J. Bouwman, Giuseppe Brienza (for Sir Robert Atkins, pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Felipe Camisón Asensio, Massimo Carraro (for Rosa Miguélez Ramos, pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Luigi Cocilovo (for Luigi Cesaro), Gerard Collins, Paolo Costa, Francis Decourrière, Garrelt Duin, Giovanni Claudio Fava, Francesco Fiori (for Mathieu J.H. Grosch, pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Ewa Hedkvist Petersen, Mary Honeyball, Juan de Dios Izquierdo Collado, Georg Jarzembowski, Karsten Knolle (for Philip Charles Bradbourn), Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, Sérgio Marques, Erik Meijer, Francesco Musotto, Josu Ortuondo Larrea, Karla M.H. Peijs, Wilhelm Ernst Piecyk, Samuli Pohjamo, Alonso José Puerta, Reinhard Rack, Carlos Ripoll i Martínez Bedoya, Isidoro Sánchez García, Gilles Savary, Ingo Schmitt, Brian Simpson, Renate Sommer, Dirk Sterckx, Ulrich Stockmann, Margie Sudre, Demetrio Volcic, Mark Francis Watts, Theresa Zabell (for Juan Ojeda Sanz, pursuant to Rule 153(2)) and Sabine Zissener (for Giorgio Lisi, pursuant to Rule 153(2)).

The Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy decided respectively on 29 May 2001, on 15 March 2001 and on 11 April 2001 not to deliver an opinion.

The report was tabled on 11 October 2001.

The deadline for tabling amendments will be indicated in the draft agenda for the relevant part-session.

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL

Proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports (COM(2001) 46 – C5‑0051/2001 – 2001/0026(COD))

The proposal is amended as follows:

Text proposed by the Commission [1]	Amendments by Parliament
Amendment 1 Title
Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports	Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from ports of the Member States of the Community
Justification Linguistic amendment. The word "Community" has been replaced with "ports of the Member States of the Community" because the Member States are the geographic entities (countries) with ports.
Amendment 2 Article 1 - Subject matter
The purpose of this Directive is to facilitate maritime transport, in particular that between ports situated in the Member States, by providing for standardisation of reporting formalities.	The purpose of this Directive is to facilitate maritime transport by providing for standardisation of reporting formalities.
Justification Particular reference to short sea shipping has been deleted as unnecessary because the proposal covers both short sea and deep sea shipping.
Amendment 3 Article 2 - Scope
This Directive shall apply to the reporting formalities set out in Annex I, Part A, relating to a ship, its stores, its crew’s effects, its crew list and, in the case of a ship certified to carry 12 passengers or fewer, its passenger list.	This Directive shall apply to the reporting formalities on arrival in and/or departure from ports of the Member States of the Community, as set out in Annex I, Part A, relating to a ship, its stores, its crew’s effects, its crew list and, in the case of a ship certified to carry 12 passengers or fewer, its passenger list.
Justification This amendment clarifies that the reporting formalities covered are those on arrival and departure. It implies no change in substance.
Amendment 4 Article 3 - Definitions, para (j)
(j)   'passenger` means any person on a ship other than crew members and children under one year of age.	Delete
Justification The IMO FAL Convention does not define a passenger. The definition in the Commission proposal comes from earlier EU legislation (Council Directive 1999/35/EC on a system of mandatory surveys for the safe operation of regular ro-ro ferry and high-speed passenger craft services) and it excludes children under 1 year of age. The FAL Convention does not explicitly make this exclusion and neither does Council 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. In order to ensure full compatibility with the FAL Convention, the definition of a passenger should be left out.
Amendment 5 Article 5 - Amendment procedure
Any amendments of the Annexes and references to IMO instruments in order to bring them into line with Community or IMO measures which have entered into force shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 6(2).	Any amendments of the Annexes and references to IMO instruments in order to bring them into line with Community or IMO measures which have entered into force shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 6(2), in so far as such amendments do not broaden the scope of this Directive.
Justification This amendment specifies that the scope of the Directive cannot be changed outside the normal codecision procedure. Comitology is an important tool but one which must be used with care so that the legislative powers of the European Parliament are not undermined.
Amendment 6 Article 6 - Committee
1.   The Commission shall be assisted by the committee instituted by Article 12(1) of Council Directive 93/75/EEC.	1.   The Commission shall be assisted by the committee set up pursuant to Article 12, paragraph 1, of Council Directive 93/75/EEC, hereinafter referred to as "the Committee".
2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 and Article 8 thereof.	2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
3.   The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be three months.	The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.
	3.    The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Justification These amendments are formal. They offer some clarification and are in line with previously adopted legal texts.
Amendment 7 Article 7 - Implementation 1st paragraph
Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 30 June 2002 at the latest. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.	Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not later than eighteen months after the entry into force of this Directive.. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
Justification The Member States have expressed a wish to have a somewhat longer time to comply with the Directive. If the Directive is adopted in the first reading, the entry into force will not be very much delayed.
Amendment 8 Annex I, Part A, title
List of Reporting Formalities Referred to in Article 2 in respect of Ships Arriving in and Departing from Community Ports	List of Reporting Formalities Referred to in Article 2 in respect of Ships Arriving in and Departing from Ports of the Member States of the Community
Justification Linguistic amendment. The word "Community" has been replaced with "ports of the Member States of the Community" because the Member States are the geographic entities (countries) with ports.
Amendment 9 Annex I, Part C, para 3
3.   Without prejudice to methods of transmitting data through electronic means, when a Member State accepts the provision of ship's reporting information in electronic form, the format of the outcome on the end-user screen and when printed shall follow the models in Annex II.	3.   Without prejudice to methods of transmitting data through electronic means, when a Member State accepts the provision of ship’s reporting information in electronic form, it shall accept the transmission of that information when produced by electronic data-processing or interchange techniques that conform with international standards, provided it is in a legible and understandable form and contains the required information.
In case of electronic transmission of a Form, the image on the end-user screen can differ from the actual A4-size but has to follow its proportions.	Member States may subsequently process the acquired data in any format they consider appropriate.
Justification The amendment aims to bring the text closer to the FAL Convention. It would relieve both the ship and the authorities of a Member State from the obligation to produce and receive the data in a certain format whether they want to or not. This allows more room for scientific progress and subsequent processing of data by the Member States. It would still always allow the ship to produce the data in the FAL format but would also allow the production and processing in another format (e.g. EDI), if this is seen as more appropriate to the ship and the Member State. The amendment is consistent with the aim of furthering electronic communication.

• [1] OJ C 180, 26.6.2001, p. 85.

DRAFT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports (COM(2001) 46 – C5‑0051/2001 – 2001/0026(COD))

(Codecision procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2001) 46[1]),

–   having regard to Article 251(2) and Article 80 (2) of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C5‑0051/2001),

–   having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism (A5‑0327/2001),

1.   Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.   Asks to be consulted again should the Commission intend to amend the proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.   Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

• [1] OJ C 180, 26.6.2001, p. 85.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Commission Proposal

The EU institutions[1] have long pledged to favour environmentally friendly transport modes, especially railway and sea transport. As a step in the direction of facilitating shipping the Commission now proposes to introduce standardised reporting requirements for ships entering EU ports. At the moment the requirements differ considerably between the Member States, which can be seen as problematic in the light of the internal market. Therefore the Commission wants to introduce standardised reporting procedures, which would apply when ships enter or depart from EU ports (no matter if they are from Member states or from non-Members). The Commission has informed your rapporteur that the proposal arises from a comprehensive strategy to promote short sea shipping.

The International Maritime Organisation's Convention on Facilitation of Maritime Traffic (IMO FAL Convention) has been signed by most Member States. It has also been amended several times.

The FAL Convention recommends the use by national authorities of six standardised forms to be completed when ships arrive in or depart port.

• (1) IMO General Declaration (Form No. 1),
• (2) IMO Cargo Declaration (Form No. 2),
• (3) IMO Ship's Stores Declaration (Form No. 3),
• (4) IMO Crew's Effects Declaration (Form No. 4),
• (5) IMO Crew List (Form No. 5), and
• (6) IMO Passenger List (Form No. 6).

These forms are used to varying degrees in the different Member States. The Commission does not seek to make any changes to these standardised forms since they are already internationally recognised. Of these six documents the Commission wants to introduce the following five:

• ∙Provision of information relating to the ship (General Declaration, Form No. 1);
• ∙ Provision of information relating to ship's stores (Ship's Stores Declaration, Form No. 3);
• ∙Provision of information relating to crew's effects (Crew's Effects Declaration, Form
  No. 4);
• ∙Provision of the information relating to the number and composition of the crew (Crew List, Form No. 5);
• ∙For ships certified to carry 12 passengers or fewer (cargo ships), provision of information relating to passengers (Passenger List, Form No. 6).

Form number 2 (Cargo Declaration) is left out because that document is commonly replaced by cargo manifests which serve both commercial and administrative purposes. Introducing the IMO form would lead to unnecessary duplication. Furthermore, a manifest can include more detailed information than the IMO form.

Form number 6 (Passenger List) would be used only to the extent that is not regulated by directive 98/41/EC i.e. cargo ships with 12 passengers or fewer. The Commission justifies this by stating that established standard practices exist in Europe, at least for regular services, and that no problems have arisen. In addition, the FAL Form does not include all information required by directive 98/41/EC (in particular, as to sex and special care or assistance).

The proposed directive means that the Member States will not be able to require other categories of information than those on the relevant IMO FAL Forms or require any other documents or formats to satisfy the particular formalities for which the FAL forms covered by the proposal are intended. On the other hand, the proposal does not make it compulsory for the Member States to introduce any formalities they do not currently require and they will also not be prevented from asking for other information which is not covered by FAL forms.

It is worth noting that the proposal does not cover dangerous goods or multimodal transport. The Commission justifies this by stating that the FAL forms for dangerous goods or multimodal transport have only recently been incorporated in the FAL Convention, and that they are being brought into use. If, at a later stage, their use becomes world-wide, they could be included.

The proposal does not make it compulsory for the Member States to sign or accept the IMO FAL Convention.

Committee procedure

For the implementation of the proposed directive, the Commission proposes a regulatory procedure where the Commission would be assisted by a regulatory committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission. The views of the committee cannot be overturned unless the Council decides otherwise by qualified majority.

Proposed timetable

The Member States would have to comply with the proposed directive by 30 June 2002 at the latest.

Expected effects

As to the implications of the directive, the Commission expects it to have beneficial effects on employment, especially in the short sea sector, since it aims to facilitate the procedures in shipping and, thereby, increase its attractiveness. The Commission also states that the growth of shipping should also have beneficial effects on other ancillary activities such as shipbuilding. Your rapporteur finds this last statement undoubtedly true, but saving EU shipyards takes undoubtedly more than the introduction of harmonised port documents!

Reactions to the proposal

Support for the Commission proposal has been strong among different interest groups. The required use of FAL forms in particular has been welcomed. This should encourage the adoption of these documents on a global basis.

Doubts have also been raised: One could ask whether there should be a more limited reporting requirement when voyages are intra-EU. Should this directive also put limits on what other information Member States should be allowed to demand? Of course, this is another debate for the future.

Electronic means of communication must also be furthered. Old-fashioned manual handling should not be encouraged. The use of electronic messages is facilitated if the information is presented in a form which has been agreed upon in advance. It is necessary to recognise that the information flows involve a lot of different actors: ships, carriers, customs, port authorities, terminals and consignees. Therefore, some agreement on the presentation is desirable, although it may not be necessary to restrict it to an electronic copy of the paper format. The Commission has dealt with this problem by specifying how electronically transmitted information must appear on the end user's screen.

The views of the rapporteur and suggested amendments

Your rapporteur strongly supports this initiative which can be seen as a step towards a better functioning internal market. It is also in line with the European Parliament's previous demands. Since the proposal is based on the agreements reached in the IMO, it furthers a wide adoption of FAL forms at the international level.

A number of amendments have been proposed. A wide consultation process has taken place and your rapporteur has sought to find a common line with the Commission and the Council(as expressed in its common orientation). Most of the amendments are more are less technical, but two merit some clarification. The amendment to article 3 ”Definitions” suppresses the definition of a passenger in order to ensure full compatibility with the FAL Convention (where children under 1 year are not excluded). Compatibility is necessary so that a world-wide adoption of the FAL Forms is encouraged.

The purpose of the amendment in Annex I, Part C is to facilitate electronic communication by removing the obligation to send the information in the FAL form, as long as the required information is in a legible and understandable form. Electronic communications have the potential of simplifying reporting and should thus be encouraged by allowing enough flexibility as to technical solutions.

Need of further amendments

There might certainly be other improvements to the text. However, it should be kept in mind that all consulted professional organisations, the Commission and the Council are happy with the text as suggested in this draft. Having this Directive accepted in the first reading would give a clear signal of the importance which is attached to the development of maritime transport in the European Union. The Directive itself would be a welcome - admittedly small, but not insignificant - boost to European shipping.

• [1] Recent demands include the European Parliament's Resolution of 7 July 2000 on Commission Communication COM(1999) 317 final: The Development of Short Sea Shipping in Europe, Second two-yearly Progress Report and the Council Resolution of 14 February 2000 on the promotion of short sea shipping (point 12b, OJ C 56, 29.2.2000, p. 3)