NoC313/38 30.11.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveontheapproximation ofthelaws,regulations
andadministrativeprovisionsoftheMemberStatesrelatingtorecreationalcraft(*)
(92/C313/15
On11May1992theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforIndustry,Commerce,CraftsandServices,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon2September1992.The
RapporteurwasMrGreen.
Atits299thPlenarySession(meetingof23September1992)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
2.2.TheDirectivecomprises14separateArticles.
Amongotherthings,theseArticlescoverthetypesof
craftinvolved,theessentialsafetyrequirementstobe
adopted,theprocedurestobefollowediftheMember
StatesortheCommissionjudgethatthestandardsdo
notmeasureupfullytotheessentialrequirementsand
thecraftconcernedaretobewithdrawnfromthe
market,themethodofconformityassessment,andhow
andwhenMemberStatesaretoconformtotheDirec­
tive.TheArticlesarenotinanywayrestrictive,but
seektoensureeasy,effectiveharmonization .1.Background
1.1.Inordertomaximizethepotentialbenefitsof
thenewEuropeanSingleMarketbyremovingexisting
barrierstotradeandtoimprovethestandardsofcon­
structionandoverallsafetyofrecreationalcraftand
theircomponents ,theboat-buildingindustry,through
theInternationalCouncilofMarineIndustryAssoci­
ations(ICOMIA),askedtheEuropeanCommissionto
submittotheCouncilanagreeddirectivecoveringthe
safetyofrecreationalcraft.ThisDirectivewastoform
onlyonespecificpartofthetotalnumberofECDirec­
tivesconcerningsafety.Muchworkhadalreadybeen
doneonalargenumberofstandardswithintheISO
(TC188)framework,butitwasrecognizedthatone
singleBoatConstructionDirective,inwhichtheEC,
EFTAandnon-ECmembersofICOMIAwereclosely
involved,wouldofferthebestsolutionforharmonizing
boat-construction standardsbothwithinECcountries
andprobablyinnon-ECcountriesalso.Accordingly
theCommissionhaspublishedthecurrentproposal,
whichwasdraftedinclosecollaboration withtheboat­
buildingindustry.3.SpecialRemarks
3.1.AnnexIliststheessentialsafetyrequirements
forthedesignandconstructionofrecreationalcraft.
Theseessentialrequirementsformavitalcomponent
oftheDirective.Theyhavebeencompiledaftervery
detailedandprolongedconsultationbetweenMember
Statesandwithintheboat-buildingindustry.Compro­
miseshavebeennecessarytoachieveunanimousagree­
ment,butsuchagreementhasbeenachieved.Itis
hopedthereforethatmajorchangestotheessential
requirementswillnotbeproposed.2.GeneralRemarks
2.1.TheCommitteesupportstheDirectiveinprin­
ciple,sinceitsmainaimistoremovetechnicalbarriers
totradeinthisfield.Itcoversthesafety-relatedaspects
oftechnicalboatconstruction standards .Whenthe
Directiveisadopted,allboatandboatcomponent
manufacturers willbeawareoftheminimumsafety
constructionstandardstheirproductsmustcomplywith
beforebeingsoldwithintheEC.Thisshouldbeof
benefittotheuserandbarrierstotradecouldbecome
non-existentfortheECboat-building industry.The
highsafetystandardsalreadyachievedinsomeEC
MemberStatesmustnotbereducedbytheimplemen­
tationofthisDirective.3.2.Internalproductioncontrol,notifiedbodiesand
verification,ascoveredinAnnexesVtoXIV,arealso
importantcomponentsoftheDirective.TheESC
assumesthatinternalproductioncontrol,especiallyby
thesmallerboat-buildersandSMEs,willbethemost
commonmethod.Certification forsmallboatsshould
bekeptasstraightforward andaseasytoadministeras
possible.Existingsmallclassboats,suchasWayfarers,
Lasersandsoon,alreadywellestablishedinlarge
numbers,shouldbesubjecttointernalproductioncon­
trol(moduleA)regardlessofquantityproduced.More
complicatedcertificationproceduresthanthosesetout
intheDirectivecouldhaveanadverseeffect,evenif
onlyinfinancialterms,onthesmallerboat-builder .
Thisismostdefinitelycontrarytotheaimofthe
Directive. (!)OJNoC123,15.5.1992,p.7.

30.11.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC313/39
3.3.ChapterI,Article1.3
Hastobereinterpretedandclarifiedinordertoavoid
evasion—especiallythefirstandfourthindents.
'Rowingracingboats'wouldmorelogicallycomeunder
thesecondindent.
3.4.ChapterII,Article8
Totakeaccountofthespecialcircumstancesofcustom­
madeboatsandsmallproductionseries,itshouldbe
madeclearthatthesearenotsubjecttothecertification
procedureslaiddownintheDirective.TheCommittee
thereforeproposesthatinArticle8,indents1and2,
proceduresbegearednottototalannualproduction,
buttothesizeofseriesofindividualtypesofboats.Thisrequirementisinlinewithpresentconstruction
methodsandwouldnotimposeanundueadditional
burdenonconstructionofsmallermulti-hullcraft.
3.7.Revisethelastsentenceinparagraph5.1.1to
read:
'theinsulatingmaterialsinsidetheenginespaces
shallbeself-extinguishing .'
Thereasonforthisisthatthecurrentlanguageisvague
andthusnotcertifiable .
3.8.AnnexII,point1
Thissentenceshouldread:
'Ignitionprotectionforpetrolinboardandsterndr­
iveengines.'
Theword'petrol'isincludedbecausetheignitionpro­
tection,asrequiredintheISOstandard,isnotappli­
cabletodieselengines.
3.9.Annex11,point4
Thisshouldread:
'Permanentlyinstalledfueltanksandfuelhoses.'
Thisisbecausethisrequirementisnotapplicableto
portablefueltanks.Themajorityofportablefueltanks
areusedintheopeninsmalloutboardboats,whereas
permanentlyinstalledfueltanksareinhiddenareas
andmustbeindividuallytestedbothpriortoandafter
installation .3.5.Annex1,point2.2
Itshouldbespecifiedthatthebuilder'splateshallshow
thestateofthecraftatthetimeofproduction .
3.6.Revisethewordinginparagraph3.10toread:
'allhabitablemulti-hullcraftinexcessof12min
lengthofthehullshallbefittedwithescapehatches
thancanallowescapefromacapsizedmulti-hull
craft.'
DoneatBrussels,23September1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
MichaelGEUENICH