Brussels, 13/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 8 May, MEPs from the internal market and consumers committee (IMCO) at the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement with the Irish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers on updating European legislation for the improvement of safety and environmental performance of pleasure boats and nautical motor vehicles. The new directive also aims to get rid of misleading boat category names and provide clearer information for consumers. These new rules cover boats between 2.5 and 24 metres in length, such as motorboats, sail yachts and sea scooters. MEPs have therefore succeeded in getting rid of the following categories: “on the high sea”, “off the coast”, “near the coast” and “in protected waters” due to the way in which they mislead users. The text of the agreement stipulates that the essential environmental conditions for sailing, namely, the strength of the wind and the height of the waves, constitute the only appropriate criteria for defining the kind of boat, rather than the zone and kind of sailing. Therefore, the four letters: A, B, C and D will now define the level of boats' resistance to environmental conditions. MEPs have again given their support to the Commission's proposal to make boats greener and to apply stricter limits on gas emissions. The text still needs to be formally approved by the committee of permanent representatives from the member states (Coreper) and by the IMCO committee itself, which is likely to be in June. The plenary is expected to move to a vote in September. (SP/transl.fl)