amending Regulation (EC) No 391/2009 with regard to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom submitted notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This means that, unless a ratified withdrawal agreement establishes another date, all Union primary and secondary law will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from 30 March 2019, (‘the withdrawal date’). The United Kingdom will then become a third country.

Subject to any transitional arrangements that may be contained in a withdrawal agreement, EU legislation on maritime transport will no longer apply to the United Kingdom. One of the areas of Union law that would be affected is the recognition at the Union level of organisations providing services for the inspection and survey of ships flying the flag of Member States ("Recognised Organisations").

In particular, Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 391/2009 (‘the Regulation’) requires ship inspection and survey organisations recognised at EU level by the Commission (‘recognised organisations’) to be assessed at least every two years by the Commission together with the Member State that submitted the initial request for recognition of the organisation. Organisations which were initially recognised by the relevant Member State under the previous legislation and which presently enjoy EU recognition under Article 15(1) of the Regulation should be assessed in the same way. As a result, the Member State which initially recognised these organisations, under Article 15(1), should be considered the ‘sponsor’ Member State that participates in the Commission’s assessment under Article 8(1) of the Regulation.

Moreover, it follows from Articles 7 and 8 of the Regulation that in order to continue enjoying EU recognition, recognised organisations must continue to meet the requirements and minimum criteria set out in Annex I of the Regulation. This is verified through the continuous re-assessment conducted by the Commission and the ‘sponsor’ Member State under Article 8(1).

As of its withdrawal, the United Kingdom will no longer be in a position to participate in the assessments carried out pursuant to Article 8(1) of the Regulation for those organisations for which the United Kingdom acts as the ‘sponsor’ Member State. Consequently, the continued validity of the recognition for these organisations at EU level could be called into question and could not be clarified with sufficient legal certainty under the existing provisions of the Regulation.

Organisations’ potential loss of EU recognition due to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal could have adverse consequences for the competitiveness and appeal of the EU-27 Member States' flags that have authorised these Recognised Organisations to act on their behalf for the purposes of carrying out statutory ship inspections, surveys and certification. The recognised organisations affected currently have authorisation agreements with the majority of the EU-27 Member States and after the United Kingdom’s withdrawal they would not be able to make use of these Recognised Organisations for their flagged fleet. At the same time, shipowners using these organisations also for classification purposes would face the dilemma of either out-flagging their ships to a non-EU flag or risking breaching their current private contracts for classification of their ships with the relevant organisations.

This proposal aims to increase legal certainty, secure business continuity for the affected shipowners and maintain the competitiveness of EU-27 Member States’ flags.

•Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area

This proposal is necessitated by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union and its scope is limited to addressing the relevant consequences. The main policy objectives of the Regulation remain unchanged.

•Consistency with other Union policies

This proposal is fully consistent with the Council mandate for the negotiations with the United Kingdom on its withdrawal from the Union.

2.LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY

•Legal basis

The proposal is based on Article 100(2) TFEU.

•Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)