Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on:the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the Safety of the seaborne oil trade
Date: 2000-09-21
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: international standard, maritime transport, prevention of pollution, supervisory body, technical regulations, transport safety

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on:

— the ‘Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on

the Safety of the seaborne oil trade’,

— the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending
Council Directive 95/21/EC concerning the enforcement, in respect of shipping using
Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Member States, of
international standards for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and
working conditions (port State control)’,

— the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending
Council Directive 94/57/EC on common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey
organisations and for the relevant activities of maritime administrations’, and

— the ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the
accelerated phasing-in of double hull or equivalent design requirements for single hull oil
tankers’

(2001/C 22/06)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending
Council Directive 95/21/EC concerning the enforcement, in respect of shipping using Community ports
and sailing in the water under the jurisdiction of the Member States, of international standards for ship
safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions (port State control),

the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive
94/57/EC on common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations and for the
relevant activities of maritime administrations and

the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accelerated phasing-
in of double hull or equivalent design requirements for single hull oil tankers (COM(2000) 142 final —
2000/0065 (COD) — 2000/0066 (COD) — 2000/0067 (COD));

having regard to the decision taken by the European Commission on 23 March 2000, under the first
paragraph of Article 265 and the second paragraph of Article 80 of the Treaty establishing the European
Community, to consult the Committee of the Regions on the matter;

having regard to the decision of the Bureau of the Committee of the Regions of 13 June 2000, under
Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure, to direct Commission 3 (Trans-European Networks, Transport and
Information Society) to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to Council Directive 93/75/EEC of 13 September 1993 concerning minimum requirements
for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods;

having regard to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2158/93 of 28 July 1993 concerning the application
of amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, and to the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, for the purpose of Council Regulation
(EEC) No 613/91;

having regard to the Council Resolution of 8 June 1993 on a common policy on safe seas;

having regard to the Commission Decision of 30 September 1996, 96/587/EEC, on the publication of
the list of recognised organisations which have been notified by Member States in accordance with
Council Directive 94/57/EC;

having regard to the draft opinion adopted by Commission 3 on 26 June 2000 (CdR 165/2000 rev. 1)
(rapporteur: Mr Lamberti (I-PES);

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whereas measures to improve transport safety are a matter of Community competence under the terms
of Article 75c of Title IV of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

whereas the question of maritime transport safety and the consequences of pollution are of profound
importance for the Member States and local authorities, and accidental oil spills from tankers continue to
constitute a serious cause of concern to the European Commission, as illustrated by the recent accident
involving the oil tanker Erika,

adopted the following opinion at its 35th plenary session of 20 and 21 September 2000 (meeting of
21 September).

1.

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council amending Council Directive
95/21/EC concerning the enforcement, in respect of
shipping using Community ports and sailing in the
waters under the jurisdiction of the Member States,
of international standards for ship safety, pollution
prevention and shipboard living and working con-
ditions (port State control)

1.5.
Considers that clear conditions must be laid down
in order to ensure that real, effective and in-depth visual
examinations are carried out in all the accessible parts of the
ship so that any structural faults can be detected: to this end,
the Committee calls upon the Commission to put forward
practical and effective instruments for such examinations.

The Committee of the Regions

1.6.
Agrees with the compulsory application of the expand-
ed inspection regime to oil tankers older than 15 years, since
statistics have shown that the majority of deficiencies leading
to detention concern ships above this age.

1.1.
Approves the line taken by the Commission in refusing
access to Community ports to ships which, because of their
age, flag and history pose a risk hazard to maritime safety and
the marine environment, and highlights the value of the
proposed publication and display of the list of ships refused
access, through the Sirenac information system.

Agrees that ships with a high target factor, presenting
1.2.
serious risk of accident or pollution, must be inspected at
every Community port of call.

1.3. Welcomes the proposal to subject ships classed in one
of the categories of Annex V, section A to an expanded
inspection in the first port of call after a period of 12 months
since the last expanded inspection carried out in a Member
State port, being convinced that this will improve maritime
transport safety, and agrees that mandatory guidelines should
be established for this type of inspection: this will enable
inspectors’ margin of discretion in carrying out inspections to
be determined, making them as uniform as possible within the
Community.

1.7.
Also agrees that Member States must ensure that access
is refused to all Community ports to ships covered by Annex V
part A of the directive, in the situations set out in the new
Article 7a, considering that this measure will deter ships
belonging to one of the categories mentioned from sailing in
Community waters.

1.8.
Believes that publication every six months of the
information relating to ships that have been refused access to
Community ports, for the reasons mentioned in the previous
point, is adequate.

1.9.
Approves the proposal to improve information on
inspections performed in previous ports, also intended to
avoid repetition of inspections, with the ensuing increase in
the workload of the relevant services.

1.4.
Agrees that procedures must be laid down for inspec-
tors conducting expanded inspections of certain categories of
vessel, since this will enable the inspectors’ margin of discretion
to be reduced and to harmonise inspections within the
Community.

1.10.
Endorses the inclusion in the directive of the state-
ment that the administration of the flag State or the classifi-
cation society concerned must be informed of the results of
inspection, so that they can take early action to counter
possible deterioration of the ship and take the necessary
remedial measures.

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1.11.
Agrees with the inclusion in the directive of an
obligation upon inspectors to check the presence on board oil
tankers carrying more than 2 000 tonnes of oil in bulk of an
insurance or other financial guarantee covering pollution
damage; this measure should, by means of appropriate instru-
ments, ensure full cover of the costs incurred by regions in
dealing with any environmental disasters:
the Committee
attaches particular importance to this aspect of the proposal,
bearing in mind the direct interests of the authorities in the
areas affected.

1.16.
Emphasises the need to speed up the introduction of
legislative measures in order to encourage the circulation of
information on vessel and cargo characteristics (in the event
of hazardous cargoes), which the Commission plans to
undertake in the future. This is crucial if local administrations
are to have the data they need on the transport of hazardous
substances to draw up emergency plans, including the necess-
ary protective measures to minimise the impact of any
accidents.

The Committee would therefore draw particular
1.17.
attention to its views as set out in points 1.4, 1.11 and 1.13,
which it considers essential.

Agrees that the transparency of information relating
1.12.
to ships inspected and detained should be boosted, in order to
deter the use of ships which fail to meet established safety
standards.

Lastly,

1.18.
is especially
the Committee believes
important that the issues covered by the draft directive should
be evaluated decisively and individually as part of the accession
procedures, particularly regarding Mediterranean countries
such as Cyprus and Malta.

it

1.13.
Agrees that the directive should include a real obli-
gation upon Member States to forward the information
specified in Annex X to the Commission on an annual basis,
enabling it to intervene more rapidly to prevent anomalies in
the application of the directive: such anomalies create the risk
of varying levels of safety and consequently distortion of
competition between EU ports and regions. The Committee
recommends that practical mechanisms and instruments are
devised to ensure that the Member States fulfil this require-
ment.

2.

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council amending Council Directive
94/57/EC on common rules and standards for ship
inspection and survey organisations and for the
relevant activities of maritime administrations

The Committee of the Regions

Lastly, while hoping that in the light of the extreme
1.14.
taking action on the safety of maritime oil
urgency of
transport — as recently illustrated by the Erika accident — the
amendments to the directive will be adopted as soon as
possible, the Committee would nevertheless make the follow-
ing recommendations:

1.15. With regard to the inclusion among the tasks to be
carried out by inspectors of
technical checks on ships’
structures, the Committee would stress that Article 4 should
oblige the Member States to ensure on-going training and
refresher courses for inspectors, on the basis of programmes
coordinated at Community level. This would provide State
authorities with highly qualified inspection staff with shared
basic know-how, and would keep inspectors up-to-date with
technological developments in the sector. This is considered
essential if inspections are to be qualitatively adequate.

Agrees that the directive must be amended in order to
2.1.
fine-tune the Community system for recognising classification
societies, particularly as regards controls and sanctions,
especially for damage to the environment, and in order to
make the requirements to be met by the recognised organis-
ations more stringent. This will allow the recognition regime
to be strengthened and the obligations upon the Member
States concerning monitoring of the classification societies to
be simplified.

2.1.1.
The amendment is also important in that it seeks to
bring the directive into line with the relevant amendments to
international conventions and the corresponding mandatory
codes for the Member States, as well as with the relevant
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) resolutions.

2.2. Welcomes the inclusion in the directive of an obli-
gation upon Member States to operate in accordance with the
provisions of IMO Resolution A.847 on guidelines to assist
flag States in the implementation of IMO instruments, since
this will facilitate effective fulfilment of the obligations of flag
States in this area deriving from international conventions.

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2.3.
Approves the amendment to the procedure for grant-
ing initial recognition to the technical organisations wishing
to be authorised to assess ship safety on behalf of the Member
States, transferring responsibility for recognition from the
Member States to the Commission. This will allow more
harmonised assessments to be carried out within the Com-
munity.

2.4.
The comments made in point 2.3 above apply equally
to the monitoring of continued compliance with the conditions
laid down by the directive with regard to the technical
organisations, which is entrusted to both the Community and
the Member States.

2.11.
Agrees that time restrictions for ships to change class
should be inserted, since this will enable use of this method to
avoid safety standards to be combated.

2.12.
Approves the amendment to the directive in order to
establish the qualitative criteria to be met by the technical
organisations for the purposes of recognition, as this will
enhance the quality of the service they provide.

2.13.
Here again, the Committee considers that the contents
of the directive must be evaluated with a view to the procedures
covering the accession of countries concerned by these matters.

2.5. Welcomes the introduction, as a precondition for
granting initial recognition to technical organisations carrying
out ship safety assessments, and maintaining such recognition,
of a good record of safety and pollution prevention perform-
ance by ships classed by these organisations, irrespective of
the flag flown.

3.

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament
and of the Council on the accelerated phasing-in of
double hull or equivalent design standards for single
hull oil tankers

2.6.
Endorses extending the authority to suspend recog-
nition of technical organisations to the Commission, under a
procedure involving the committee set up under Article 7 and
composed of Member State representatives.

The Committee of the Regions

Agrees that withdrawal of recognition of an organis-
2.7.
ation that fails to fulfil the provisions set out in the directive, or
whose safety and pollution prevention performance becomes
unsatisfactory, should be decided at Community level,
in
order to ensure that procedures are uniform throughout the
Community.

2.8. Welcomes negotiations with those third countries
where some of the recognised organisations are located, in
order to ensure equality of treatment with such organisations
located within the Community.

2.9.
proposes an alternative provision governing the liab-
ility of recognised organisations vis-à-vis the official bodies
with which they have established a working relationship. In
addition to the obligation upon Member States to inform the
European Commission and the other Member States of such a
relationship, the alternative provision would establish liability
on the part of the recognised organisation, in the event of
minor error, at a level not below a sum fixed by the directive.

3.1. Welcomes the adoption of the regulation, noting that
this legislative instrument is the best way of achieving the
accelerated implementation of the new safety standards laid
down for oil tankers (Articles 1 and 2).

Agrees with the Commission’s reasons for drawing up
3.2.
the regulation, which will boost the process of gradually
eliminating single hull tankers in accordance with elimination
criteria that must not be less severe than those contained in
United States legislation, and agrees that efforts must be made
to apply these deadlines internationally. This will prevent
vessels banned from US waters from beginning to operate in
European Community waters (Article 4): the Committee views
this point as a priority, and all the EU institutions must make
every effort to ensure that the timing of Community legislation
corresponds precisely with that of the United States.

Approves the introduction by the directive of financial
3.3.
incentives for double hull tankers and disincentives for single
hull vessels, in order to speed up the process of replacing the
latter with the former.

Agrees with the need to encourage the widest possible
2.10.
circulation of the information concerning ships provided by
the recognised organisations.

3.3.1.
Similarly welcomes the fact that the mixed incentive-
s/disincentives system is based on a combination of reducing
port and pilotage dues for tankers of the first type or of
equivalent design standard and increased dues for tankers of
the second type (Article 5).

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3.4.
Notes that the IMO must be notified of the Community
provisions set out in the regulation once it is adopted, in
accordance with Article 211 of the United Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (Article 6).

— proposes that the extension of the mandatory notification
under Directive 93/75/EEC to ships in transit off the
Community be put forward again in the near future at
Community level.

Approves the provisions whereby the Member States

3.5.
must:

— verify that the differential charging system for port and

pilotage dues is applied;

The Committee is also highly favourable to the idea of
eventually setting up a European structure of maritime safety,
enabling safety rules to be applied effectively and in a uniform
manner throughout the European Community.

— send a report to the Commission each year on the result
of verification. It will thus be possible to verify proper
application by the Member States of the provisions of
Article 5 of the regulation (Article 7).

In view of the tasks which the Commission proposes be
entrusted to this structure (supporting the action of Member
States and the Commission in applying and monitoring
Community legislation and in evaluating the effectiveness of
the measures in place), the Committee considers that:

Approves the establishment of the regulatory com-

3.6.
mittee under Article 8.

— regional and local authorities should be able to contribute

to the process of setting up the structure;

Agrees that the Commission should have the right to
3.7.
amend the regulation and its annex to update the references to
the relevant regulations of MARPOL 73/78 in line with any
subsequent amendments to these regulations.

3.8. Welcomes the abolition of the existing differential
charging system under Council Regulation (EC) No 2978/94
and its replacement with the new one under the proposed
regulation.

Endorses the application of the regulation 12 months

3.9.
after its entry into force, as specified in Article 12.

3.10.
as a whole, but wishes to make the following point:

Supports the provisions of the proposed regulation

— the rules contained in the regulation refer to oil tankers;
since it is assumed that the aim of the regulation is to
prevent pollution and its consequences, the Committee
proposes that
these rules also be rapidly extended,
by adopting similar prevention systems reflecting the
different transport safety technologies, to gas and chemi-
cal tankers.

3.11.
The Committee welcomes all the proposals for future
measures put forward by the Commission. In this regard, the
Committee:

— hopes for further development of the EQUASIS infor-
mation system, and subsequently for a permanent com-
mitment on the part of the Member States and the
Commission to the project;

— regional and local authorities must have the appropriate
contacts and relations with this structure on a basis of
equality with other levels of administration.

This would ensure that regional and local authorities could —
in accordance with the principle of transparency of infor-
mation regarding the ships covered by the legislative proposals
discussed in the present opinion — have access to the
necessary information to take effective measures to deal with
any accidents, such as the Erika incident, and to channel
relevant information to citizens. This last aspect is particularly
pertinent in view of the great importance public opinion
attaches to pollution issues.

3.12.
The Committee notes that Community legislation to
introduce obligatory use of double hull oil tankers must be
brought into line with the deadlines laid down in OPA 90,
fully sharing the concerns expressed by the Commission
regarding the probable shift of commercial operations on the
part of oil tankers banned from the United States towards
Europe. It also believes that this measure will have a beneficial
impact on the phasing-out of older, and therefore less safe,
vessels.

The Committee also recognises the need for steps to
3.13.
be taken to substantially reduce the currently permitted size of
individual tanks in tankers.

3.14.
The Committee would alert the Commission to the
need to deal with owner and crew related problems, at the
appropriate levels. The former are all too often shadowy to the
point of complete invisibility, and the latter totally unable to
ensure at least full compensation for loss, particularly in the
event of environmental disaster. It is common knowledge that

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the effect of the current rules governing the liability of owners
and crews is that the party actually liable most often remains
either unknown or in any case ‘untouchable’. This problem is
no less important that those addressed by the proposals to
amend Directives 95/21/EC and 9457/EC and by the proposal
for a regulation.

The Committee of the Regions

4.
Supports the development of Europe’s fleet and ports by
emphasising safety. Although the reinforcement of the above-
mentioned safety inspections and standards will undoubtedly
constitute progress, this will not be enough to radically modify
maritime transport. The Committee of the Regions wishes to
make several proposals whose implementation it considers
urgent, in particular within the framework of enlargement.

4.1.
Stresses the urgent need to continue efforts to harmon-
ise the maritime administrations of the various Member States
while giving priority to the most rigorous safety criteria and
by introducing coherent monitoring arrangements.

Considers that there is an urgent need to implement a
4.2.
European risk prevention policy aimed at all participants in
the transport chain.

Brussels, 21 September 2000.

4.3.
Recommends that a wide-reaching Community pro-
gramme be created to provide specific assistance to the
development and modernisation of the maritime sector of the
Union’s poorest countries.

4.4.
Considers that candidates for accession to the Union
(Cyprus, Malta, and the Baltic states) should have adminis-
trations capable of carrying out inspections and ensuring
compliance with international standards.

4.5.
Believes that it is important to move towards social
and fiscal harmonisation in the European Union, in particular
by:

— ensuring substantial rights for employees;

— complying with social rules concerning crews;

— expanding employment;

— promoting and preserving the maritime professions while

providing appropriate vocational training.

4.6.
Urges the European Union to examine the possibility
of introducing a maritime safety tax. The tax would be based
on the nature of the merchandise transported, and its purpose
would be to raise sufficient funds to ensure effective preven-
tion.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT