Opinion of the Commission on the amendments proposed by the European Parliament to the Council's common position on the proposal for a Council Directive on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships
Date: 1998-04-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of passengers, information, maritime transport, transport safety, vessel

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.04.1998 
COM(1998) 233  final 

96/0281 (SYN) 

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION 
on the amendments proposed by the European Parliament 
to the Council's common position on the 

proposal for a 
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 

on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships 

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article  189 c (d) of the EC Treaty) 

OPINION OF Till-  COMMISSION 

on the amendments proposed by the European Parliament 

to the Council's Common Position 

on the proposal for a 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 

on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships 

On  11 March  1998 the European Parliament adopted 7 amendments to the common position on 
the above proposal which was adopted by the Council on  11 December  1997.  The amendments 
of the Parliament are attached to this memorandum. 

In pursuance  of  Article  189c, section  (d), the  Commission  has  reconsidered  its proposal  and 
decided not to accept the said amendments for the following reasons: 

Amendments  N°  1 to  3  related  to  new  recitals  to  be  inserted  in  the  recitals  of  the 
common position. 

They are meant to highlight a lack of progress in the safety of maritime transport 
of passengers and the non-implementation of recommendations after the tragedy 
of the Herald  of Free Enterprise  with  suggestions  to  improve  the  stability  and 
construction  of ro-ro passenger  ships.  The Commission  is of  the  opinion  that 
these recitals are either in contradiction with the achievements both at EC level 
and  at  international  level  or  are  referring  to  matters  outside  the  scope  of  this 
Directive. 

Amendments 4 and 5 related to an extension of the scope of the Directive to "under sea" 
rail tunnels involving car shuttle journeys. 

These amendments deal with the Channel situation and are meant to impose the 
registration of the particulars of the passengers  on "all  'under  sea" rail  tunnels 
involving  car  shuttle journeys  in  excess  of  20  miles".  Justifications  for  such 
amendments are competitive pressures following the introduction of "under sea" 
train  services  through  the  Eurotunnel  and  the  advantage  of  having  similar 
information  in the case of a fire in the tunnel, as this was the case following  the 
near disastrous fire in the Channel Tunnel in  1996.  The Commission  could not 
follow the European Parliament on this issue since this Directive primarily aims 
to  implement  in  an harmonised  way  internationally  agreed  maritime  rules.  In 
addition,  there  are  no  convincing  arguments  to  have  different  rules  for  rail 
tunnels according to whether  they  go under  the  sea or not  and  serious  doubts 
exist  as  to  whether  a passenger  registration  scheme  of  the  type  proposed  for 

ferry  operations  would  add  sufficient  value  to  the  detailed  safety  regime 
developed  specifically  for  the  Channel  Tunnel  by  the  French  and  British 
authorities.  With  regard  to  a  possible  distortion  of  competition  between 
transport  modes  arising  from  the  implementation  of  this  Directive,  the 
Commission  seeks  to  achieve  equitable  conditions  of  competition  between 
transport  modes  by  a  variety  of  means,  but  for  very  practical  reasons  that 
cannot  mean  legislating  for  one  sector  simply  because  another  has  become 
subject  to  a  law  which  imposes  new  obligations.  The  need  for  passenger 
registration  on  ships  stems  from  actual  ferry  disasters  such  as  the  "Estonia" 
and  the  "Herald  of  Free  Enterprise"  and  from  obligations  under  the  SOLAS 
Convention.  Neither  these  experiences,  nor  such  international  rules,  apply  to 
Channel tunnel operations. 

Amendment 6 related to Article 5 of the common position. 

The  first  part  of  the  amendment  aims  to  ensure  that  the  information  on 
passengers  shall  be  recorded  for  journeys  of  minimum  two  hours  or  if  the 
distance between the two ports is at least 20 miles.  The second part is meant to 
impose the communication of this information  to the shore before the departure 
of the passenger  ship.  The Commission  is of the opinion  that  Article  9 of the 
Common  position  provides  the  necessary  flexibility  to  cope  with journeys  of 
short duration  and  that Article  5 in conjunction  with  Article  8 will  ensure  that 
the information will always be available when needed. 

Amendment 7 related to Article 9 of the Common Position. 

This  amendment  is  linked  with  the  first  part  of  amendment  6  and  could 
consequently not be accepted. 

Therefore  the  Commission  confirms  its  agreement  on  the  common  position  adopted  by  the 
Council on 11 December 1997. 

In Annex: the 7 amendments. 

(Amendment  1) 
Recital  2 

the  Community 

is  seriously 
2.  Whereas 
involving 
concerned  by  shipping  accidents 
passenger  ships which  have resulted  in massive 
loss  of  life,  particularly  those  involving  the 
"Herald of Free Enterprise" and the "Estonia". 

2.  Whereas  the  Community 
is  seriously 
concerned  by the limited  progress  in the  safety 
of maritime transport of passengers in the eleven 
years  since  the accident  of the  passenger ferry 
"Herald  of  Free  Enterprise" on  the  6th  March 
1987. which caused the loss of  191  lives and thp 
"Estonia" on the 28th of September  1QQ4; (r e st 
unchanged) 

(Amendment  2) 
Recital  2 bis (new) 

' 

' ' 

V 

Whereas the lack of political  will  to improve thp 
safety  aspects  of  maritime  transport  and  fhp 
setting aside of the recommendations included in 
the Sheen  report, drawn in the aftermath  of the 
"Herald  of  Free  Enterprise"  disaster,  have 
resulted 
this 
unsatisfactory  situation; 

continuation 

in  .  the 

of 

(Amendment  3) 
Recital  8 bis (new) 

Whereas  safety  standards  for  the  design  and 
building of Ro-Ro  passenger vessels,  including 
watertight bulkheads and sponsons. are required 
urgently  and  must  be  included  in  the  future 
measures to improve safety at sea: 

(Amendment 4) 
Artiple  la  (new) 

la.  This Directive  shall  also apply to  all 'under 
sea* rail tunnels involving car shuttle iournevs in 
excess of twenty miles. 

(Amendment  5) 
Article  3(1) 

This  Directive  shall  apply  to  passenger  ships 
with the exception of: 

ships of war and troop ships; and 
pleasure yachts unless they are or will  be 
crewed  and  carrying  more  than  twelve 
passengers  for commercial  purposes 

This  Directive  shall  apply to  all  'under sea' rail 
tunnels  involving  car shuttle  journeys  of  more 
than  twenty  miles  and  to  passenger  ships  with 
the exception of: 
- 
- 

ships of war and troop ships; and 
pleasure yachts unless they are or will be 
crewed  and  carrying  more  than  twelve 
passengers  for commercial  purposes 

0> 

(Amendment  6) 
Article 5 

1. The following  information  shall be recorded 
regarding  every  passenger  ship  that  departs 
from  a  port  located  in  a  Member  State  to 
undertake a voyage of more than twenty miles 
from the point of departure 

1. The following  information  shall be recorded 
regarding  every  passenger  ship  that  departs 
from  a  port  located  in  a  Member  State  if the 
normal  journey time is estimated  to be at least 
two  hours or  if the  distance between  the  two 
ports is at least 20 miles: 

the  family  names  of  the  persons  on 
board, 
their forenames  or initials, 
their sex; 
an  indication  of  the  category  of  age 
(adult,  child  or  infant)  to  which  each 
person belongs, or the age, or the year 
ofbirth; 
when  volunteered  by  a  passenger, 
information  concerning  the  need  for 
special care or assistance in emergency 
situations. 

the  family  names  of  the  persons  on 
board; 
their forenames or initials; 
their sex; 
an  indication  of  the  category  of  age 
(adult,  child  or  infant)  to  which  each 
person belongs, or the age, or the year 
ofbirth; 
when  volunteered  by  a  passenger, 
information  concerning  the  need  for 
special care or assistance in emergency 
situations. 

2.  That  information  shall  be, collected  before 
departure  and  communicated ynot  later  than 
thirty  minutes  after 
the  passenger  ship's 
departure to the company's passenger registrar 
or  to  a  shore-based  company  system  that 
performs the same function 

2.  That  information  shall  be  communicated 
before  the  passenger  ship's  departure  to  the 
company's  passenger  registrar  or  to  a  shore-
based company system that performs the same 
function. 

(Amendment"!) 
Article 9(1)' 

1.  A  Member  State  from  whose  port  a 
passenger  ship departs may lower the 20 mile 
threshold mentioned in Article 5. 

t 

1.  A  Member  State  from  whose  post  a 
passenger ship departs may lower the flyp hPHE 
0120 mile threshold mentioned in Article 5. 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(98) 233  final 

DOCUMENTS 

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Catalogue  number  :  CB-CO-98-248-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-35097-4 

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