Amended proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 93/75/EEC concerning minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods
Date: 1997-07-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: harbour installation, radioactive materials, transport of dangerous goods, transport safety, vessel

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.07.1997 
COM(97) 344 final 

96/0231  (SYN) 

Amended proposal for a 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 

amending Directive 93/75/EEC concerning minimum requirements 

for  vessels bound for  or leaving Community ports 

and carrying dangerous or polluting goods 

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2) 
of the EC-Treaty) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

1.  During  its  23-24  April  1997  Plenary  Session,  the  European  Parliament  approved, 
subject  to a number  of amendments,  the Commission's  proposal  for  a Council  Directive 
amending Directive 93/75/EEC  concerning minimum  requirements for  vessels bound  for 
or leaving Community  ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods'. 

The  amendments  adopted  by  the  European  Parliament  aim  at  strengthening  the 
notification  requirements  of  Directive  93/75/EEC  in  order  to  improve  prevention  and 
intervention  in  the  case  of  accidents  at  sea  to  vessels  carrying  hazardous  cargoes,  in 
particular radioactive substances. 

2.  The Commission  can accept without reservation: 

-  the  amendment  to  Article  1 of  the  proposed  Directive  (addition  of  a  new  paragraph 
(lg)j,  since  it would  facilitate  subsequent  modifications  of the Annexes to the Directive, 
through  the  procedure  of the  Committee  set-up  under  Directive  93/75/EEC,  taking  into 
account future  amendments  to the  INF  Code of  the  International  maritime  Organization 
(IMO)  concerning  the  safe  carriage  of  irradiated  nuclear  fuel,  plutonium  and  high-level 
^radioactive wastes in flasks  on board ships. 

', -  the  amendment  to  Annex  I  (addition  of  a  new  Paragraph  (9a))  of  the  proposed 
Directive,  since  it would  bring  added  value  to the Directive.  The  Commission  believes 
that information  on the number of crew on board would be usefully  made available to the 
competent authorities  in charge of planning and carrying out emergency  response in case 
of an accident at sea involving a ship carrying hazardous substances. 

3.  However,  although  the  Commission  widely  shares  the  concern  expressed  by  the 
European  Parliament,  the other  amendments  are not  acceptable  to  the  Commission.  A 
number of them are out of the scope of the Directive, since they  aim at imposing  specific 
safety  requirements  in  relation  with  the  transportation  of  radioactive  materials,  whilst 
Directive  93/75/EEC  is  exclusively  dealing  with  notification  requirements.  An  other 
series  of  amendments  are  equally  not  acceptable  because  the  type  of  notification 
requirements  they  impose  are  already  laid  down  in  other  Commission's  legislative 
proposals in the field  of maritime safety  and protection of the environment. 

3.1.  More precisely, the Commission  could  not accept the following  amendments  which 
are out of the scope of the Directive. 

-  the  amendment  aiming  at  the  addition  of  a  new  paragraph  (la)  to  Article  1 of  the 
proposed  Directive,  prohibiting the transport of radioactive  materials  on board  passenger 
ships. 
It  is  also  worth  mentioning  that  the  transport  of  INF  III  materials  -  the  most 
hazardous - are not allowed on board passenger ships according to the INF Code. 

OJN°L  247, 5.10.1993, p. 19. 

-  the  amendments  adding  a  new  paragraph  (lb)  to  Article  1 of  the  proposed  Directive, 
stating  that  radioactive  materials  should  be transported  in  containers  fulfilling  the  latest 
IAEA  regulations,  since  these  regulations  cover  conditions  for  packaging,  marking, 
labelling and test procedures which are not the aim of Directive 93/75/EEC. 

-  the  amendment  to  Annex  I  (new  paragraph  (9b)),  which  supplements  the  information 
listed  in  Annex  I of  Directive  93/75/EEC  with  the  confirmation  that  the  INF  Code  has 
been  complied  with.  Such  requirement  (i.e.  making  the  INF  Code  mandatory  for  all 
ships bound for  or leaving Community  ports), should  not be envisaged  as an  amendment 
if  appropriate,  as  a  specific  measure  aiming  at 
to  Directive  93/75/EEC,  but, 
strengthening  the  technical  safety  requirements  related  to  the 
transport  of  radioactive 
materials within the European  Community. 

- the amendment  to Annexl, new paragraph  (9c), supplementing the list of  information  in 
Annex  I  of  Directive  93/75/EEC  with  various  safety  and  emergency  requirements  in 
relation with the transport  of radioactive materials.  Such  requirements  do not yet  exist at 
international  level, but are currently being discussed  in  IMO in the context  of the  review 
of the INF Code. 

3.2.  The following  amendments  could  not be accepted  since they  cover  situations  which 
are already envisaged within other legislative proposals adopted by the Commission: 

•  Extension of reporting requirements  to cover ships  in transit. 

'The purpose of such amendments  (new paragraphs  (1c), (Id) and  1(e)) would  be to 
extend the existing reporting requirements of Directive 93/75/EEC, applicable to 
ships bound for or leaving Community  ports, in order to cover also ships  in transit 
through the territorial  waters of Member States. 

Three different  situations are  identified: 

. new paragraph  (1c): ships  coming from  a port  located  outside 
the  Community  and  not  bound  for  a  port  in  the  Community 
("pure  transit")  shall  report  to  the  coastal  States  on  route, 
before beginning the voyage; 

.  new  paragraph  (Id):  ships  leaving  a  Community  port  shall 
report, before  departure, to the coastal  States on route; 

. new paragraph  (le):  ships coming  from  a port  located  outside 
the  Community  and  bound  to  a  port  in  the  Community  shall 
report  to  the  coastal  States  on  route  ("Community  transit") 
before  entering their territorial waters; 

These situations  are already  dealt with  in the proposed  Council  Directive for  a European 
Ship Reporting  System  (Eurorep), adopted  by the Commission  on the  17th of  December 
19932.  According  to  the  proposal,  ships  which  cross  reporting  lines  set  up  off  the 
European  coast  would  have  to  report  to  the  competent  authorities  of  the  coastal  States 
concerned. 

• 

the amendment which would oblige passenger ships carrying hazardous cargoes to 
have on board a "passenger  list" in accordance with Annex II C ("Check-list  for 
vessels, documents) of Directive 93/75/EEC.  Such a provision would be redundant 
with Articles 5, 6 and 8 of the proposal for a Council Directive on the registration of 
persons sailing on board  passenger ships adopted by the Commission  on the 25 of 
November  1996. 
Besides, the scope of the Commission proposal  is more comprehensive, since it is 
applicable to all passenger ships, not only those carrying hazardous cargoes, and to all 
persons on board, including the crew. 

•  with  regard to the amendment  to Article  1 (new  paragraph  (If)),  which  would  oblige 
Member  States  to  forward  systematically  all  information  received  to  the  competent 
authorities  of other  Member  States concerned  (transit  States or  States of  destination), 
the  Commission  considers  that  such  requirement  would  necessitate  a  systematic 
>  transmission,  on  a  routine  basis,  of  a  considerable  amount  of  information,  which 
would only be used  in exceptional circumstances.  The Commission believes that such 
information  should only be transmitted when there is a sound justification  on safety  or 
environmental grounds. 

,. 

•s 

-

Therefore,  in compliance with Article  189A, paragraph  2, of the Treaty, the Commission 
modifies  its proposal. 

2  OJ N°C 22, 26.1.1994, p.7. 

Amended  Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 

amending  Directive 93/75/EEC concerning  minimum  requirements 

for vessels bound for or leaving Community  ports 

and carrying dangerous or polluting goods 

Original text — 

Amended text  -

Article  1, paragraph 2 

;• 
w  -
.2.  The following  indent is added to Article 
11 : 
"- -amend the annexes in line with the 
relevant developments in international  law 
on safety  at sea and the protection of the 
marine environment. 

2. Article  11 is amended  as follows: 

(a) - In the first  indent, "(e). (f).  (g). (h) 
and (iV are replaced bv "(eV (ft.  (el  (hi 
(i) and  (j)". 

(b) - The following  indent is added: 
"- amend the annexes in line with the 
relevant developments  in international  law 
on safety  at sea and the protection of the 
marine environment, 

ANNEX 

I. In Annex I, paragraph  1  is amended as 
follows: 

" 1. Name and call sign of the vessel and, 
where appropriate, its IMO  identification 
number." 

I. Annex I is amended  as follows: 

1. Paragraph  1  is amended  as follows: 
"1.  Name and call sign of the vessel and, 
where appropriate,  its IMO  identification 
number." 

2. The following  paragraph  10 is added: 
"10. Number of crew on board". 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(97) 344 final 

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