# EUR-Lex - 52012DC0606 - EN

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# 52012DC0606

**COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 establishing a European Maritime Safety Agency /* COM/2012/0606 final - 2010/0303 (COD) */**

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2010/0303 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union
concerning the

position of the Council on the adoption of
a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation
(EC) No 1406/2002 establishing a European Maritime Safety Agency

(Text with EEA relevance)

1.           Background

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council (document COM(2010) 611 final – 2010/303 COD): || 28 October 2010

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: || 16 February 2011

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: || 15 December 2011

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: || N/A

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: || 4 October 2012

2.           Objective
of the proposal from the Commission

The objective of the proposal is to amend
Regulation 1406/2002 by clarifying EMSA's existing tasks and role as well as by
extending EMSA's tasks to new areas under development at international and/or
EU level. Regulation 1406/2002 has been modified three times since 2002, mainly
due to the evolution of the EU's maritime transport legislation.

The Commission proposal suggests
maintaining EMSA's current objectives and tasks. However, they need some
further clarification and to define more precisely EMSA’s assistance to the
Commission, to the Member States and to other parties. Some new tasks to EMSA
arise from the implementation of the 2009 third maritime safety package,
covering Port State Control, classification societies, vessel traffic
monitoring, accident investigation, indemnity of passengers, Flag State
requirements and liability of shipowners.

In the area of research, EMSA should become
closer involved in EU maritime research and - through the analysis of research
projects - identify the possible follow-up from a regulatory perspective.

The proposal also aims at clarifying EMSA’s
technical assistance to the Commission and to the Member States in various
international and regional organisations. Furthermore, some of the high-value
operational services operated by EMSA (SafeSeaNet, CleanSeaNet, LRIT, Port
State Control etc.) can contribute significantly to other EU-policies, for
example the integrated approach to maritime surveillance under the integrated
EU maritime policy. In addition EMSA should be able to help with assessing and
analysing the contribution of shipping related pressures such as ballast water,
marine litter and underwater noise in the marine environment. This revision
also clarifies that EMSA's response capabilities can be used in case of marine
pollution caused by other sources than vessels, notably by oil platforms. The
proposal also tries to make it easier to increase technical cooperation with
neighbouring countries. Limited additional resources for EMSA are foreseen
through this revision which is in line with the legislative financial statement
attached to the proposal.

3.           Comments
on the position of the Council

The position of the Council reflects the
political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on
12 April 2012. The Commission supports this agreement. The Commission has made four
statements to clarify the understanding. The four statements are attached in
the annex.

The Council has made a distinction between
core and ancillary tasks. All Commission objectives with regard to EMSA's tasks
have been adequately reflected in the final text, in some cases additional
safeguards or limitations are foreseen. This gives EMSA a clear mandate for the
future. While focus remains on maritime safety, it allows EMSA to contribute
with its expertise and tools to other EU policies in the interest of creating
EU added value in the most efficient way. It seems possible to implement the
new mandate with the resources identified in the legislative financial
statement attached to the initial Commission proposal. The Commission accepts
the revised methodology for EMSA's visits to Member States as it appropriately
covers the policy concerns of the Commission.

4.           Statements
by the Commission

The Commission has made four statements
which can be found in the annex.

5.           Conclusion

The Commission supports the results of the
inter-institutional negotiations and can therefore accept the Council's
position at first reading.

ANNEX
Statements by the Commission

1.           Statement on Maritime security
inspections

With regard to the technical assistance the
Agency is providing to the Commission in the performance of maritime security
inspection tasks as referred to in Article 2(2)(b), the Commission confirms
that this provision does not affect the character of maritime security
inspections as foreseen by Commission Regulation (EC) No 324/2008 of 9 April
2008 laying down revised procedures for conducting Commission inspections in
the field of maritime security.

In particular, this provision does neither
extend the Commission powers to undertake inspections nor does it confer any
power to EMSA for carrying out maritime security inspections on its own.

2.           Statement on Union competence

With regard to the technical assistance for
the Member States and the Commission to contribute to the relevant work of the
technical bodies of IMO, the Commission understands the notion of competence in
the sense of the Treaty as encompassing the notion of Union interest currently
used in the EU coordination practice with regard to IMO.

3.           Statement on Marine Strategy Framework
Directive and greenhouse gas emissions from ships

With regard to the ancillary tasks listed
in Article (2a), the Commission recalls the following:

1.           The Marine Strategy
Framework Directive has the objective to achieve good environmental status of
marine waters. Some of the pressures and impacts listed in Table 2 of Annex III
are shipping related. The Commission, which has inter alia to measure progress
in the implementation of the various areas covered by the Directive, considers
it useful to receive the Agency's technical assistance for the shipping-related
elements, in particular through exploiting the results of existing tools such
as SafeSeaNet and CleanSeaNet;

2.           With regard to greenhouse
gas emissions from ships, the Commission considers that the Agency's potential
technical assistance should not be limited to the calculation of emissions, as
this could be seen as an EU preference for a certain market-based instrument. Furthermore,
the Commission considers that any technical assistance provided by EMSA will
not affect the EU's position with regard to a global or regional situation.

4.           Statement on Classification societies
for inland waterway vessels

The Commission takes the view that the
provision of relevant information by the Agency to the Commission as foreseen
in Article 2a (2) (f) can be undertaken on the basis of EMSA's existing expertise
and therefore does not require additional resources for inspections.