Brussels, 18/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - Inter-institutional agreement was reached late on Thursday 17 March on the standard concerning technical requirements for inland waterway vessels, using as its basis the work carried out by CESNI, the European committee for inland navigation rules.
In future, every inland waterway vessels looking to be awarded a certificate of authorisation from the EU to operate in navigable inland waterways will have to comply with the new rules. These rules, to be transposed into European law, have been set out in an especially dense document extending to over 500 pages and affect a plethora of highly specialised technical areas (such as manoeuvrability, steering system, operation of propulsion systems et al). They will also apply on the Rhine which is governed by the CCNR (Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine), one of the oldest international organisations. The rules form part of a range of measures in the NAIADES II package which aims to make the most of inland navigation within the EU.
The Council managed to agree an approach on the said standard on 11 June 2015. Some months later, the CESNI, which was voted into existence at the CCNR plenary session of 3 June 2015 (see EUROPE 11333), defined the rules in The Hague on 26 November of last year. “They're not really new rules, more a standardisation between the CCNR and the EU”, said a source, who also pointed out that there had only been two inter-institutional dialogues, testament to the excellent technical preparatory work.
The committee of permanent representatives I (Coreper I) will approve the agreement on 23 March. To conclude the procedure, formal adoption by the Council and the European Parliament will be necessary, states the Council in its press release. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)