Brussels, 17/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 15 February, the EU Council of Ministers decided not to oppose the adoption of a Commission decision on a directive in the field of maritime transport. The directive concerns statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea. It amends Directive 2009/42 by stipulating that the existing quarterly statistics on passenger transport and on vessel traffic in the main European ports should be forwarded to Eurostat and disseminated on an annual basis, and that the statistics on passenger transport should be collected by member states on a voluntary basis. Under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny, the Council can oppose an act which exceeds the implementing powers of the Commission, is not compatible with the aim or content of the basic instrument, or does not respect subsidiarity or proportionality.