Brussels, 26/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Due to pollution and the nitrogen oxide (NOx) concentrations from approximately six million recreational craft (jet skis and motor and sailing boats) in the EU, the European Commission proposed a new revised Recreational Craft Directive on Tuesday 26 July to make recreational boats and jet skis less polluting in European lakes and on its shores.
The proposed revision of Directive 94/25/EC covers recreational craft and sets stricter limits for the exhaust emission of NOx, hydrocarbons (HC) and particulate matters for new recreational craft. It lays down the safety requirements that manufacturers must respect when designing and manufacturing craft as well as the limits for exhaust and noise emissions from marine propulsion engines. It also provides for the relevant procedures for demonstrating the conformity of products to these requirements, including the affixing of the CE label. Propulsion engines will be designed and constructed to emit 20% less HC+NOx and 34% less particulate matters.
In order to guarantee fair market conditions, the proposed text also seeks to improve market monitoring, particularly by updating the rules on the CE label. Obligations applying to manufacturers, importers and distributors are also stricter in order to guarantee compliance with new market monitoring requirements in force since 1st January 2010. The proposal also includes stricter rules on private importers as recreational craft are often imported into the EU by third country nationals for their own use.
Other requirements ensuring the safety of recreational craft are clarified in the new text, such as clarifications on the risk of inversion of multihull craft. The proposal foresees that new habitable multihull craft cannot invert or must have sufficient buoyancy to remain afloat in the inverted position.
Finally, the new regulation aims to align the technical requirements of boats built in the EU with those of the EU's major commercial partners. A suggestion has also been made to reduce the costs for European manufacturers with regard to development, manufacture and certification.
In the terms of the new text, member states will have to guarantee that appropriate controls are exercised at the EU's external borders and within the EU itself, and also through visits of the premises of economic operators which will guarantee the immediate ban and confiscation of boats that fail to comply with the new directive. (E.H./transl.fl)