Strasbourg, 16/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - A new electronic tag will be applied within two years to marine equipment manufactured and used in Europe. On Wednesday, 16 April, the European Parliament confirmed an agreement reached last February with the Council. The new European directive was adopted by 598 votes to 18 votes, with13 abstentions, on the basis of the report by Dominique Riquet (EPP, France).
What is new is the electronic tag in the shape of a wheel mark, which may be used to replace the current material version applied to marine equipment used to prove its compliance with European rules. The electronic tag should be cheaper and easier to apply for the 6,000 companies manufacturing this kind of equipment in Europe. It will also be easier to detect at a distance for the stock controllers supervising large amounts of stock and identifying fraud.
The new directive also intends to ensure that transposition is easier and contains uniform standards established by the International Maritime Organisation. This should help reduce the administrative burden for member states. Finally, it also updates the old provisions in the previous directive dating back to 1996 and thus resolves the market surveillance problems they caused.
European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas pointed out that these new rules are an important development in this sector as marine equipment represents a significant part of the value of a ship and “its quality and safe operation are critical for the safety of the ship and its crew”.
The Council will still need to give its formal approval to the agreement to ensure that the directive is published in the EU Official Journal in the next few months. The new rules will become binding within two years. (MD)