Brussels, 23/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 23 November, the Commission adopted a package of seven legislative proposals known as "Erika III", which aims to reinforce the security of maritime transport in Europe, by reducing risks of accidents and pollution of Community waters by dint of better accident prevention and increased controls on vessel quality. After the ecological disasters caused by the shipwrecks of the oil tanker Erika in 1999 and of the Prestige in 2002, the European Union has taken on a veritable legislative arsenal, with the packages "Erika I" and "Erika II", which stepped up controls on ships in ports, banned single-hulled vessels and set up the European Maritime Safety Agency. The objective of the Commission is now to complete the mechanism and clarify the responsibility of all players. "A situation of zero risk will never exist, but with this package, we will provide ourselves with all the resources we need to prevent the risk of another oil slick in Europe", said the vice president of the Commission with responsibility for Transport, Jacques Barrot, on Wednesday. The Commission is presenting: -a proposed directive on the responsibility of the flag States; -modifications to the directive on classification companies; -changes to the directive on port State controls; -changes to the directive on traffic monitoring; -a proposed directive on inquests into accidents; -a proposed regulation on responsibility and compensation for damages to passengers; -a proposed directive on the civil responsibility of ship owners.
Conformity requirements for flag States
On vessel safety, the Commission should have more stringent requirements of the Member States in terms of controls on the respective international standards by vessels flying their flag. Flag state control consists of an obligatory inspection, carried out solely on its own vessels before they set sail. The Commission proposes to include the code of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in Community law, on the conformity of flag States with international conventions, and to make the text obligatory. Each Member State must also have a maritime administration, respecting quality criteria laid down by the standard ISO 9001/2000, which is included in the international convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and in the Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). The Commission has also provided to "control the controllers", by making them subject to audits.
Improving the quality of the work of the classification companies
The classification companies approved by the EU are called upon to carry out inspections and visits for the Member States, to certify ships flying their flag. In order to improve the quality of their work, the Commission hopes to make classification companies more responsible, by calling on them to bring their own quality control systems together in one joint and independent structure. Furthermore, the Commission's inspection powers will be stepped up, in order to guarantee that Community inspectors are able to have access to information on the vessels themselves, and the Commission will be able to impose a sliding scale of financial penalties on companies which fail to meet the requirements (apart from the suspension or withdrawal of the authorisation, which are already covered in the directive). This system will bring pressure to bear on the classification companies, and motivate them to redress the situation.
Reform of port State control regime
The current regime, under which each Member State must carry out checks on 25% of the ships berthing in any of its ports every year, is insufficient, according to Commissioner Barrot, who criticises a practice consisting of checking "easy boats" in order to achieve the 25% quota. The Commission has opted for "zero tolerance", and proposes increasing the individual annual objective of 25% to a global objective of 100% for the whole of the EU, by concentrating on non-standard vessel controls. The frequency of inspections will no longer be random, but calibrated depending on the state of repair of the vessels, whether or not they are carrying dangerous material, their flag, the classification company or any previously noted deficiencies, and the highest-risk vessels will be checked more often than those which fulfil the quality criteria. "We intend to create a 'level playing field' where quality pays off", Commissioner Barrot promised. The regime of refusing access (or banishment) into ports of ships which do not fulfil the requirements will be stepped up, with the introduction of a minimum duration for the banishment and the possibility of issuing a definitive banishment in cases of repeat offences, and this will be extended to all categories of vessel, including cargo ships. The Commission also plans to publish a blacklist of shipbuilders and companies with poor performances, over and above black lists of flag States and banned ships, established by previous packages.
Traffic monitoring and creating refuge areas for vessels in distress
The Commission hopes to resolve the issue of ports to be used as refuge areas for ships in difficulty, a highly sensitive issue for the Member States and ports, which are reluctant to allow "dustbin ships" in, due to their brand image; however, ships in distress need to be able to find refuge, Mr Barrot warned. The solution put forward by the Commission consists of rationalising the choice for refuge areas, by calling upon the Member States to appoint independent authorities tasked with designating the most appropriate place, and to make available to them a specific inventory of potential refuge areas on the coastline. The Commission has no plans to publish a single and restrictive list of all refuge areas, but rather to reinforce obligations to publish lists, and in terms of communication and transmission of information to the other Member States, to the neighbouring countries and to assistance and towing companies active locally in case of emergencies. The Member States must communicate their inventory of potential refuge areas to the Commission, to allow it to check whether the directive is being correctly applied. More generally, the Commission proposes to generalise the use of an information-exchange platform, known as "SafeSeaNet", to furnish precise information about the position of vessels and the nature of their cargo. This instrument, moreover, may be one of the first applications for the European satellite radio-navigation system, Galileo. Furthermore, all fishing boats of over 15 m in length will eventually have to be fitted out with an automatic identification system (AIS), like passenger transport and freight vessels, in order to prevent risks of collisions between trade ships and fishing vessels, which are particularly high. The coastal States will also be able to take specific measures to limit navigation in the Baltic Sea during ice formation periods, as oil tanker traffic has become intensified in this region.
Technical inquests into accidents
In order to improve accident prevention, the Commission proposes to make technical inquests to determine the causes of accidents obligatory (but these will not determine legal responsibility), and to define a common methodology for these inquests to be carried out. The Commission urges the Member States to co-operate together and with third countries to pool their results. In order to provide objective inquest elements allowing lessons to be learned from an accident and for security recommendations to be made, these inquests must be carried out by independent authorities appointed by the Member States. The investigative powers of the technical investigators will be extended to allow them to visit the scenes of accidents, to have access to data registered on board and to remove samples for analysis.
Carrier responsibility and compensation for passengers in case of accidents
The main novelty of the Commission's proposal is to establish the civil responsibility of shipbuilders in case of voluntary acts and serious negligence causing pollution, by including the International Convention Liability Limitation for Maritime Claims in community law. The Commission plans to oblige maritime transporters to take out insurance, or any other financial guarantee which is sufficiently high to cover repatriation costs, before they may sail in Community waters. The sums of the financial guarantees required will be doubled compared to limits provided for by international law, and vessels will have to be able to certify that they hold a valid insurance certificate when they enter the exclusive economic zone of a Member State. This will mean that, in case of an accident, the passengers can be compensated at a level corresponding with the damage undergone, as is already the case for air passengers and will soon be the case for rail transport. The Commission proposes to incorporate the international convention of Athens of 2002 in Community law, setting maximum amounts for compensation in case of death, injury, loss of or damage to baggage. This inclusion will guarantee not only a uniform application between Member States, but will also allow additional rights to be added for the passengers, such as the extension of the scope of the convention to cover cabotage operations and transport by navigable waterways (not solely for international transport), compensation for equipment for people living with a disability, the obligation to pay advances and the obligation to inform the passengers of their rights.
"The objectives of these seven proposals will reinforce each other and lead to a decisive turning point for the quality of European armaments. Safe vessels, which respect the environment, will also be more competitive. I would like the European Parliament and Council rapidly to adopt these proposals so that the package can be implemented in 2007", Mr Barrot concluded.