Brussels, 21/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Transport Council adopted, in the night of Wednesday to Thursday, conclusions on maritime safety and "common positions" on checks to ships and classification companies, undertaking to immediately apply certain provisions of the Directive that apply. Though the Ministers postponed to their June session the adoption of a common position on the elimination of single hulled ships, while political undertaking to unilaterally engage an accelerated withdrawal of these ships if there is no agreement during the April meeting of the International maritime Organisation (IMO).
The Ministers having adopted part of the demands presented in first reading in December by the European Parliament (see EUROPE of 2 December, p.11), the Council President, Jean-Claude Gayssot, hoped that the two first Directives of the Erika I package could be adopted as of the January session of the European Parliament. The Ministers also favourably welcomed the second maritime package (Erika II) recently presented by the Commission, on the creation of a maritime agency, the monitoring of ships and the creation of a European victim compensation fund.
State checks on port: The Council found a compromise in order to take into account the EP position that had hardened at the end of November the criteria for checks on ships, and thus avoid a Parliament/Council conciliation procedure that delayed the adoption of the "Erika I" package, which France had made a priority. Thus the Directive could in principal enter into force as of December 2002, except in the Netherlands, which gained a derogation until June 2003, to adapt its staff of controllers at the port of Rotterdam to the new inspection criteria.
Checking criteria: The common position of the Council foresees that the "risk" ships, that is to say the tankers of more than 15 years, the chemical and gas ships of more than 10 years, bulk carriers of more than 12 years and passenger ships of more than 12 years, will have to be systematically checked, when: 1) they reach a "coefficient" of 7 according to the criteria defined by the Paris Memorandum, 2) the enter for the first time into a Europe port, 3) they have not been checked for the last six months. 4,400 ships on average will have to be checked each year, less than what had been proposed by the Commission (5,500 ships), but more than what had been foreseen by the Council in October (around 3,000) and especially, much more than is presently the case or the 700 risk ships that are checked each year.
While awaiting the implementation of the Directive, the Member States have undertaken to better enforce the present legislation and to systematically check as of now the ships presenting the most risks.
Refusing access to port: Adopting the requirement of the Parliament concerning "black" flags the common position foresees that the Member States can refuse access to ports when a ship: 1) flies a flag of a State recorded as presenting a very high or high risk in the black list of the Paris Memorandum, 2) has been immobilised more than once in the last 36 months in a port of a signatory States of the Paris Memorandum.
In its conclusions, the Council "favourable welcomes the prospect of being able to ban the substandard ships from Community ports with the entry into force of the suitable legal instrument".
Black box: Placed between the MEPs who want to immediately include the obligation of having black boxes on board ships, and the European Commission that underlines that this obligation is contained in the second maritime package recently presented, the Council took a future undertaking by stipulating in its conclusions that "these equipment will have to be made obligatory within five years for cargo ships built before 1 July 2002".
Classification company: The future Directive organises the centralisation and harmonisation of certification procedures for companies responsible for inspection and certificates for the Member States. The Ministers rallied to the softer position of the European Parliament, by limiting the compensation due by these classification, in case of an accident that would have caused bodily damage, to a compensation "ceiling" of EUR 5 million (instead of the "floor" initially foreseen by the Council). In its conclusions, the Council "takes note of the undertaking by the Member States to improve as of now checks by the classification companies according to the methods defined in the "common position".
Elimination of single hull vessels. Despite opposition from the Commission, the ministers continued to give preference to the solution of a multilateral agreement at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on the rate of phasing out single hull ships, rather than a European unilateral decision. The members of the IMO are expected to confirm, in April next year, the agreement defined in October this year that provides for the phasing out of single hulls between 2003 and 2015 (date preferred by the EU) or 2017, according to their age and tonnage. The buffer date should be confirmed in April (see EUROPE of 11 October, p.16).
In its conclusions, the Council reaffirms the need to speed up the timetable for withdrawing single hull oil tankers, seeking, wherever possible, an agreement at the International Maritime Organisation. In this context, it states its "determination to reach satisfactory Community provisions on accelerated withdrawal of single hull oil tankers to be adopted by end June 2001". Should the IMO reach an agreement during its session in April 2001 including the essential elements of the common Council approach of October, mainly the final dates for elimination, the Council pledges to immediately adopt a text that translates this agreement into Community law. Should the IMO not reach such an agreement, the Council undertakes to adopt a common position that takes this approach on board by June 2001.