REPORT on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 82/714/EEC of 4 October 1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels (COM(97)0644 -C4-0066/98 - 97/0335(SYN)) Draftsman of opinion ("HUGHES" Procedure) : Mr Bill Miller, Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy

29 September 1998

Committee on Transport and Tourism
Rapporteur: Mr Christoph Werner Konrad

By letter of 2 February 1998 the Council consulted Parliament, pursuant to Article 189c and Article
A LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL - DRAFT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION
B. EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
OPINION

By letter of 2 February 1998 the Council consulted Parliament, pursuant to Article 189c and Article

75(1) of the EC Treaty, on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 82/714/EEC of

4 October 1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels.

At the sitting of 20 February 1998 the President of Parliament announced that he had referred this proposal to the Committee on Transport and Tourism as the committee responsible and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy for its opinion.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism appointed Mr Christoph Werner Konrad rapporteur at its meeting of 25 February 1998.

At the sitting of 13 March 1998, the President announced that this report would be drawn up according to the HUGHES procedure by the Committee on Transport and Tourism in conjunction with the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy.

It considered the Commission proposal and the draft report at its meetings of 2 September and 29 September 1998.

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

The following were present for the vote: Bazin, chairman; Wijsenbeek and Sisó Cruellas, vicechairmen; Jarzembowski for the rapporteur; Aparício Sánchez, Bennasar Tous (for Grosch), Camisón Asensio, Cornelissen, van Dam, Danesin, González Triviño, Lagendijk, McIntosh, Megahy, Simpson and Stenmarck .

The opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy is attached.

The report was tabled on 29 September 1998

The deadline for tabling amendments will be indicated in the draft agenda for the relevant partsession.

A LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL - DRAFT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 82/714/EEC of 4 October 1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels (COM(97)0644 - C4-0066/98 - 97/0335(SYN))

The proposal is approved with the following amendments:

Text proposed by the Commission[1]

Amendments by Parliament

(Amendment 1)

Recital 1

Whereas Council Directive 82/714/EEC of 4 October 1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels introduced harmonized conditions for issuing technical certificates for inland waterway vessels in all Member States; whereas different technical requirements for inland waterway vessels continue to apply in Europe; whereas the simultaneous existence of differing international and national rules has hitherto stood in the way of efforts to achieve reciprocal recognition of national inland navigation certificates without additional inspection of foreign vessels; whereas moreover the standards contained in Directive 82/714/EEC have become outdated;

(Amendment 2)

Recital 2

Whereas the conditions and technical requirements for issuing inland navigation certificates under Article 22 of the Revised Convention for Navigation on the Rhine have been revised as from 1 January 1995; whereas it is desirable for competition and safety reasons to adopt the scope and content of such technical requirements for the whole of the Community network;

Whereas the technical requirements contained in the annexes to Directive 82/714/EEC for the most part repeat the provisions, applying on the Rhine, of the revised Regulation on Inspection of Shipping on the Rhine as adopted by the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine (CCNR) in 1982; Whereas the conditions and technical requirements for issuing inland navigation certificates under Article 22 of the Revised Convention for Navigation on the Rhine have been revised, are acknowledged to be technically up to date and have applied since 1 January 1995; whereas it is desirable for competition and safety reasons and in the interests of harmonization throughout Europe to adopt the scope and content of such technical requirements for the whole of the Community network; whereas, in the process, changes in the Community waterway network must be taken into account;

(Amendment 3)

Recital 4a (new)

Whereas in its resolution on the then proposal for Directive 82/714/EEC (OJ C 289/79, p.25) Parliament regretted the fact that passenger vessels were not covered in the harmonization of minimum technical standards; whereas, in the interest of the safety of passenger transport, the scope of the Directive should correspond to the scope of the Rhine regime and this omission be made good;

(Amendment 4)

Article 1(10)(3)

Article 19 is replaced by the following:'...3. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote. The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask to have its position recorded in the minutes. The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the Committee. It shall inform the Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.'

(Amendment 5)

Article 2(1)

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive at the same time not later than 1 July 1998 and forthwith inform the Commission thereof. They shall apply such laws, regulations and administrative provisions from 1 July 1998.

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive at the same time not later than one year after publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities and forthwith inform the Commission thereof. They shall apply such laws, regulations and administrative provisions one year after publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Legislative resolution embodying Parliament's opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 82/714/EEC of 4 October 1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels (COM(97)0644 - C4-0066/98 - 97/0335(SYN))

(Cooperation procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council COM(97)0664 - 97/0335(SYN))[2]FNOJ C <,

- having been consulted by the Council pursuant to Article 189c and Article 75(1) of the EC Treaty (C4-0066/98),

- having regard to Rule 58 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A4-0352/98),

1. Approves the Commission proposal, subject to Parliament's amendments;

2. Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 189a(2) of the EC Treaty;

3. Calls on the Council to incorporate Parliament's amendments in the common position that it adopts in accordance with Article 189c(a) of the EC Treaty;

4. Instructs its President to forward this opinion to the Council and Commission.

[1] () OJ C 105, 6.4.1998, p.1
[2] () OJ C 105, 6.4.1998, p.1

B. EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

1. The background and the problems

The Commission proposal amending Directive 82/714/EEC of 4 October 1992 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels is primarily designed to update the technical requirements contained in Annex II of that directive in line with technical progress and to adapt the related certification procedure. It thus also takes account of the existence of various regimes governing Europe's inland waterways, and may therefore, in conjunction with the work of the Central Commission for Rhine Navigation (CCNR) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), contribute to a harmonized technical standard for internal waterway vessels throughout Europe.

The Internal Market and the development of free inland waterway shipping on an all-European scale require the harmonization or alignment of technical and safety requirements at the highest possible level. This will further both the free movement of goods and high safety, environmental and social standards. At the same time the harmonization of technical provisions and the desirable mutual recognition of certificates would improve the conditions for genuine competition in inland waterway transport.

Your rapporteur is not unaware of the individual problems facing inland waterways shipping in Europe. However, only a genuinely competitive inland waterways fleet will be viable in the long term: the Community programme for the liberalization of the European inland waterways transport market by 1 January 2000 and the related abolition of rate fixing is in my view the right road to take. Only competition can guarantee long-term efficiency. In principle this includes opening up inland waterways shipping from and to central and eastern Europe, especially in preparation for the forthcoming enlargement.

In the process, the creation of a single market will be served by no longer having differing standards applying on different European waterways, as well as differing procedures and documents. This proposal for the amendment of Directive 82/714 can only be welcomed in this respect.

2. Adapting the present regimes in Europe

At present there are basically three regimes governing technical requirements for inland waterway vessels:

- The 1995 revised Regulation on Inspection of Shipping on the Rhine of the Central Commission forNavigation on the Rhine (which applies to vessels operating on the waterways covered by the Revised Convention for Rhine Navigation (Mannheim Convention) of 1868);

- Council Directive 82/714/EEC of 4 October 1982 for Community waterways outside the Rhine;

- the UN/ECE recommendations on (uniform) technical requirements for inland waterway vessels, 1981 version, which is primarily of interest to non-Community European countries applying the recommendations.

In addition, since the construction of the Rhine-Main-Danube canal in 1992 Europe has an inland waterway network connecting the Black Sea and the North Sea, but no common regime applying to vessels using it.

Experts believe that the technical provisions in the 1995 Rhine Rules are fully up-to-date. In this connection the Committee on Transport and Tourism held a public hearing on 17 March 1998 on the problems and prospects of inland navigation in Europe. The representatives of European inland waterway shipping, and users and shippers were without exception in favour of the Rhine Rules technical standards. Consequently most tonnage being commissioned in the Community is already being built and equipped to the Rhine Rules. The rapporteur therefore sees no technical objections to the amendment of Directive 82/714, which would also facilitate planning by shipbuilders.

Directive 82/714, which is to be amended, is still based on the old 1982 Rhine Rules. Its Annex II sets the minimum standards to be met by all inland waterway vessels, including construction, engine and machinery design, radar and electrical installations, together with health and safety provisions governing crew accommodation.

The UN/ECE recommendations on technical requirements for inland waterway vessels are also based on the old Rhine Rules. Work is now in progress in Geneva to adapt Resolution No. 17, on the basis of a decision by the UN/ECE Inland Transport Committee in 1992. The Rhine Commission, the Danube Commission and the EC Commission are involved, and the aim is to standardize procedures and rules for the inspection of internal waterway vessels. In his contribution to the Committee on Transport hearing on 17 March 1998 the representative of the UN/ECE also pointed out that adoption of the proposed amendment of Directive 82/714/EEC would certainly facilitate the work of the Inland Transport Committee in updating the ECE Recommendations. The proposal for a directive being considered by Parliament was being used by the experts for the purpose. The ECE Member governments were also considering upgrading the ECE Recommendations into a binding instrument once the text had been updated and harmonized with national and regional provisions

It is therefore both logical and urgently necessary to update the technical requirements in the Community Directive to achieve a uniform standard for Europe.

If the Community fails to amend the Directive it will possibly present the associated countries with a dilemma:

on the one hand the Europe Agreements will enjoin them to approximate their legislation to that of the Community (hence to the 1982 Directive) while the UN/ECE resolution recommends them to align themselves on the 1995 Rhine rules.

Revising the Directive will therefore also make it easier for the associated countries to approximate their legislation.

3. Remarks

The innovation in the amendments to the Directive relates to the validity of the Community inland navigation certificate on the Rhine. In the past this certificate alone was not enough to entitle vessels to navigate zone R waterways, i.e. Community waterways covered by the Rhine Rules. The amendment to Article 3 would allow new vessels issued with a Community certificate of full compliance with the technical requirements laid down in the annexes to navigate the Rhine without a separate Rhine certificate. In view of the Rhine Commission's special powers, your rapporteur put a question on the subject to the experts invited to the above mentioned hearing. Their replies led to the conclusion that there were no technical or substantial legal objections to this step. For one thing the Commission proposal does of course adopt the recognized standards contained in the Rhine Rules, and for another, there can be no doubt of the Community's comprehensive powers in respect of the common transport policy, competition, and the free movement of goods and services on the basis of the EU Treaty on all European Union inland waterways, which include the Rhine.

The question of reciprocel recognition of certification procedures at European level, which takes matters further, is rather more contentious. There are objections from the Rhine navigation regarding the classification and certification procedures applying in the countries of central and eastern Europe.

This matter is however no obstacle to the current proposal to amend Directive 82/714/EEC.

Your rapporteur nevertheless urges the Commission to work at international level for a long-term settlement to the question of recognition covering the Community's neighbours not subject to the Rhine Rules. This could only benefit the free carriage of goods by inland waterway as an environmentally-friendly mode of transport and help create a large internal market. Otherwise there would be a risk of creating the impression that the introduction of stricter technical standards was no more than camouflaged protectionism. It is no secret that the western European inland waterway carriers are not always going to welcome their eastern European competitors with open arms. If however the required safety standards are met there is no alternative to competition.

The Commission proposal also extends the scope to passenger vessels carrying more than 12 passengers. Parliament had regretted this omission in its 1979 resolution. Your rapporteur therefore considers that the preamble ought to refer to this fact.

The Commission proposal contains one more substantial amendment, to Article 19 of the present Directive. Hitherto all amendments to the annexes have to be adopted by the Council. The Commission is now proposing that the implementing powers be transferred to an advisory committee. Here it would like to use the existing committee established by Article 7 of Directive 91/672/EEC on the reciprocal recognition of national boatmasters' certificates. As we have seen that the aim is for the Community certificate (pursuant to Directive 82/714) and the Rhine certificate (based on the Rhine Rules) to continue to indicate an equivalent level of safety, and an existing expert committee can be given the task, the rapporteur agrees that this solution is the best and most effective one. However, pursuant to the current text, the committee's terms of reference are to extend only to the annexes, and the Commission should keep Parliament regularly informed of substantial technical changes.

333537

23 September 1998

OPINION

(Rule 147)

for the Committee on Transport and Tourism

on the Council Directive amending Directive 82/714/EEC of 4 October 1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels (COM(97)0644 - C4-0066/98 - 97/0335(SYN); report by Mr Konrad

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy

Draftsman: Mr Bill Miller

PROCEDURE

At its meeting of 18 March 1998 the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy appointed Mr Miller draftsman.

It considered the draft opinion at its meetings of 2 June, 30 June and 23 September 1998.

At the last meeting it adopted the following conclusions by 46 votes with 1 abstention.

The following took part in the vote: von Wogau, chairman; Katiforis and Secchi, vice-chairmen; Miller, draftsman; Areitio Toledo, Berès, Billingham, Camisón Asensio (for de Brémond d'Ars), Carlsson, Cassidy (for Fourçans), Christodoulou, Cox, Filippi (for Garosci), Friedrich, Funk (for Lulling), García Arias, García-Margallo y Marfil, Glase (for Mather), Harrison, Hendrick, Herman, Hoppenstedt, Ilaskivi, Imbeni, Kestelijn-Sierens, Konrad, Kuckelkorn, Kuhne (for Fayot), Langen, Lindqvist (for Gasóliba i Böhm), Lukas, McCarthy (for Donnelly), Erika Mann (for Caudron), Metten, Murphy, Pérez Royo, Pomés Ruiz (for Peijs), Porto (for Thyssen), Randzio-Plath, Rapkay, Read, Ribeiro, Rübig, Theonas (for Svensson), Väyrynen (for Larive), W.G. van Velzen (for Arroni) and Wolf (for Hautala).

BACKGROUND

The single market in the waterway sector has largely been established by a series of legislative acts dealing with issues such as reciprocal recognition of navigability licenses, access to the occupation of carrier by inland waterway in national and international transport and common rules applicable to the transport of goods and passengers by inland waterways.

There is nevertheless still a barrier to the smooth and free carriage of goods and passengers by inland navigation within the European Union. Currently three different sets of rules as regards technical requirements for inland waterway vessels govern the European waterways

(1) the regulation on Inspection of Shipping on the Rhine (the "Rhine Rules") which has been revised in 1995 and which is applicable in the area covered by the Mannheim Convention. The Rhine Rules are binding in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

(2) Council Directive 82/714/EEC, the technical requirements of which apply on Community waterways outside the Rhine, although it incorporates the Rhine Rules as far as the Rhine is concerned.

(3) the UN Economic Commission for Europe(ECE) Recommendations on technical requirements for inland waterway vessels of 1981, which are not binding and may be adopted by non EU states.

Consequently there are no common standards for vessels operating on the international waterway network, which - within the EU only extending to six Member States(Austria, Belgium, France, Luxemburg, Germany and the Netherlands) - links the Black Sea to the North Sea via the DanubeMain- Rhine.

Both the Directive and the UN/ECE Recommendations are based on the old Rhine Rules and therefore fairly out of date. There is unanimous agreement that the Rhine Rules represent the most up-to-date safety standards. Consequently the Commission proposes an update of Directive 82/714/EEC in line with the Rhine Rules, an approach also taken by the UN/ECE.

Your rapporteur has been in contact with a large number of organisations affected by the underlying proposal, which all supported the Commission's approach. The amending of the directive will improve safety in inland waterway transport, ensure a single set of technical requirements for inland waterway vessels within the EU and contribute to harmonisation on a pan-European level.

Although the Commission states that the great majority of new vessels brought into service in the Community today are constructed and fitted out according to the Rhine Rules, shipowners face substantial costs to bring existing vessels up to the required technical level. This is especially a problem for smaller enterprises. The proposal foresees transitional periods until the technical requirements have to be finally met. Nevertheless financial support for those shipowners could prove vital for their survival and the application of grants out of Structural Funds in this field should be considered.

Technical standards are often used as informal trade barriers. Vessels from Eastern Europe do not in most cases meet the technical requirements valid in the European Union. Nevertheless it is in the general interest that the most up-to-date safety requirements are in place. Since the Europe Agreements demand that the Associated Countries approximate their laws to those of the Community, and many of those countries base their legislation on the ECE Recommendations a coherent revision of those two sets of rules is also very much in the interest of the Eastern States, i.e. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and Slovakia.

Another aspect should be borne in mind. This is the adaptation of the directive due for example. technical progress. Close cooperation between all interested parties (European Commission, Commission for the Rhine, UN/ECE and the Danube Commission) is important so that further changes in technical requirements do not lead to new differences. Currently a certain rivalry seems to exist which should be overcome.

Your rapporteur does not intend to dwell on the details of this very technical proposal. Following consultations with the interested organisations this does also not seem to be necessary. As the proposal has - and this view is widely shared - very positive effects on the further development of the internal market and beyond this on the carriage of goods also at a pan-European level, your rapporteur will limit his remarks to some general conclusions.

Conclusions

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy

1. Welcomes this proposal for a council directive, which introduces a common system of technical requirements, based on rules which have proved their worth in practice, on inland waterway vessels within the EU, as a valuable instrument for the further completion of the internal market and the free carriage of goods and passengers;

2. Is of the opinion that a common set of rules on the inland waterways linking the Black Sea to the North Sea will also have positive effects on the inland navigation of the associated countries which are linked to the Community waterways and stimulate economic exchange between the EU and this region;

3. Draws attention to the fact that to meet the new technical requirements especially smaller enterprises will, although transitional periods are foreseen, face substantial costs and proposes the use of Structural Funds, where the Member State feels it appropriate, to support those enterprises in bringing their vessels up to date;

4. Calls for a close cooperation especially between the European Commission and the Central Commission for the Rhine to ensure an equivalent level of safety in view of technical progress and future changes to the technical requirements;

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