The European Commission adopted on Thursday 28 March a report calling on Member States that have not done so, in particular Italy and Malta, to ratify the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F). This agreement entered into force on 29 September 2012. All Member States of the Union are members of the IMO.
The report shows that the STCW-F Convention has been ratified by nine Member States (Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Romania) out of a total of 26 contracting States worldwide.
As regards the other 19 Member States: - six Member States are currently preparing for ratification (France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Sweden, United Kingdom); - four countries consider that ratification of the STCW-F Convention is not necessary due to the state of their fleet (Estonia, Finland, Slovenia, Bulgaria). Four landlocked countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Luxembourg) have informed the Commission that they will not ratify the Convention.
Finally, the following Member States that have not ratified the STCW-F Convention have not responded to the request for information: Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Malta and Slovakia.
Member States are encouraged to respect their commitments and finalise ratification procedures, as well as to support the Commission in its work to promote safety on board and at sea. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)