Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from Community ports"
Date: 2001-05-30
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: administrative formalities, customs regulations, harbour installation, simplification of formalities, vessel

7.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 221/149

Point 7.5

To read as follows:

‘On the basis of the general and specific comments set out above, the Committee considers the retention of the
special block exemption for motor-vehicle distribution to be still acceptable for the time being if it is ensured that
the conditions and measures laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1475/95 really are applied in full. In addition, the
Commission is asked to examine how the current Regulation can be amplified. The new Regulation’s most urgent
objective should be to increase competition, albeit without neglecting consumer safety. The Committee looks forward
to the opportunity to comment on any changes that are proposed by the Commission.’

Reason

In view of the lack of intrabrand competition referred to in the Commission report and highlighted by consumer
organisations — which is due in no small measure to the failure to observe the conditions laid down in Regulation
(EC) No 1475/95 — it is not enough to simply continue with the present situation, albeit with one or two minor
changes. In the long term the aim should be to abolish the block exemption in the motor-vehicle sector in keeping
with the need for a properly functioning single market.

Result of the vote

For: 33, against: 68, abstentions: 11.

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European
Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and departing from
Community ports’

(2001/C 221/24)

On 26 February 2001 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 80(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 8 May 2001. The rapporteur was
Mr Kröger.

At its 382nd plenary session, held on 30 and 31 May 2001 (meeting of 30 May), the Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 50 votes to four with three abstentions.

1.

Introduction

many ports, does, however, differ. In other ports the content
of the information required is also not the same.

A considerable amount of

1.1.
information has to be
provided by seagoing ships entering and departing from
Community ports. This information mainly concerns the
status of the ship, its crew, the nature and size of the cargo,
the passengers on board and the ship’s stores. Such information
is required in connection with: the payment of duties; decisions
taken by the port authorities on safety matters; monitoring
observance of immigration rules; the compiling of statistics
and, generally, the smooth clearance of ships.

1.2.
The content of much of the information is the same
for every port. The format of the information required by

1.3.
The fact that the information with the same content is
formatted differently is both time-consuming and highly
costly to the shipping industry. It complicates administrative
procedures not just for overseas shipping but also, and in
particular, for short sea shipping. The aim is to facilitate
clearance of seagoing ships and to make maritime transport
correspondingly more efficient, whilst at the same time not
reducing the content of the information required by the
authorities of the Member States.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

7.8.2001

2.

The Commission proposal

2.1.
The Commission proposes to standardise both the
content and the format of the information to be provided in
respect of ships arriving in and departing from Community
ports. The proposal is based on the International Maritime
Organisation’s (IMO) Convention on Facilitation of Maritime
Traffic of 9 April 1965 (IMO FAL Convention). The Conven-
tion came into force in 1967 and has since been amended on
several occasions. The Convention covers six standardised
forms. These forms relate to: basic data in respect of the status
of ships on entering and leaving ports; the cargo declaration;
the ship’s stores declaration; the crew’s effects declaration; the
crew list; and the passenger list. Under the Proposal for a
Directive, the Member States are to enact legislation ensuring
that the standardised IMO FAL forms may be used and have
to be accepted for the provision of
information in the
abovementioned fields. The requisite specifications for the
individual declarations are set out in Annex I to the Proposal
for a Directive.

The standardised forms are to be used on a uniform

2.2.
basis, except in two cases:

The proposal for a Directive does not stipulate use of
2.2.1.
the standardised IMO FAL form in respect of the cargo
declaration. In practice this information is contained in ships’
cargo manifests. The information set out in these manifests is
used for both commercial and administrative purposes.

2.2.2.
Use of the IMO FAL standardised passenger list is
stipulated only in the case of cargo ships which carry
In the case of the carriage of passengers on
passengers.
passenger ships, Council Directive 98/41/EC of 18 June 1998
on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships
operating to or from ports of the Member States of the
Community (1) requires more information to be provided than
is the case with the IMO FAL form. In all other cases the
provisions of the Proposal for a Directive are based on the use
of the IMO FAL standardised forms.

2.3.
Use of the standardised forms is to be authorised in
respect of all ships arriving in or departing from Community
ports, irrespective of their flag or whether they are engaged in
intra-European traffic or international maritime traffic.

2.4. When the required data are transmitted electronically,
the electronic end-format on the end-user screen and when
printed has to tally with the standardised model forms.

2.5.
The Proposal for a Directive does not oblige Member
States to ratify the IMO Convention. In cases where Member
States wish to have information on matters not covered by the
standardised IMO FAL forms, they are therefore to be at liberty
to require such information.

3. Observations

The Economic and Social Committee welcomes the
3.1.
Commission’s proposal
the
information which Member States require from seagoing ships
entering and leaving Community ports. This will facilitate the
clearance of seagoing ships in a key area.

to standardise the format of

3.2.
The Proposal for a Directive will facilitate the adminis-
trative formalities involved in the clearance of seagoing ships.
This will be particularly beneficial in the case of European
short sea shipping. This trade involves ships regularly serving
several European ports in the course of one journey and being
repeatedly required to provide them with information. Short
sea shipping is in competition with land transport which does
not have to meet comparable reporting requirements. The
harmonisation of conditions of competition between transport
modes is therefore also brought a step closer by the Proposal
for a Directive. It will, furthermore, facilitate administrative
work in respect of crew members.

the Member States,

3.3.
In earlier opinions the Economic and Social Committee
repeatedly stressed the important role played by short sea
shipping in coping with the growth in traffic in the internal
market. This role will become still more important with the
accession of east European states to the EU. The Maritime
Industries Forum, which brings together representatives of the
the maritime transport
Commission,
industry, users, ports, service-providers in the logistics industry
and trade unions, has on several occasions called for the
removal of bureaucratic obstacles to European short sea
shipping in order to make the use of this form of transport
more attractive to users. In its resolution on the promotion of
short sea shipping of 14 February 2000 (2),
the Council
expressly called upon the Commission to present proposals to
standardise the use of IMO FAL forms in the EU. The Proposal
It is
for a Directive under review meets these demands.
therefore endorsed by the Economic and Social Committee.
The Committee urges the Member States to gear their approach
towards the pursuit of these policy objectives and to set aside
special national desires as regards the provision of information.

3.4.
The Committee welcomes the fact that the Commission
has taken over the IMO Convention’s international formats,
rather than producing separate EU forms. This reflects the
point frequently made by the Committee that if maritime
transport is to form an efficient global sector of the economy,
the application of standard international rules is a vital
prerequisite.

(1) OJ L 188, 2.7.1998, p. 35.

(2) OJ C 56, 29.2.2000.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 221/151

3.5.
It would be in line with this international approach if
the ship’s master or the shipping company concerned could
choose to provide the requisite information also in English, in
addition to providing it in the national
language of the
respective port. As the Proposal of a Directive rightly
encompasses all ships entering Community ports, rather than
distinguishing between flags or trades, it seems reasonable also
to authorise the communication of the information to the
Community ports in English. English is the basic medium for
communication in international maritime transport.

The Economic and Social Committee attaches consider-
3.6.
able importance to the streamlining of administrative pro-
cedures and the attendant facilitation of maritime transport in
the EU. The IMO FAL Convention has so far been ratified by
81 countries. 52 of these have, however, lodged reservations
about individual provisions, as a result of which the inter-
nationally agreed measures for facilitating procedures and
promoting simplification have only been partially incorporated

into national
law. The Committee therefore calls on the
Commission and the Member States to examine jointly
the areas in which further harmonisation provisions could
facilitate the procedures for clearing seagoing ships in Com-
munity ports. The Committee would draw attention in this
context to, for example, the recommendation set out in the
FAL Convention that for each port only one central body be
appointed to which all the requisite information could be
forwarded, even though several different authorities (e.g.
customs authorities, health authorities,
immigration bodies
and others) are responsible for individual information. Admin-
istrative formalities would also be further facilitated by
(a) implementation of the recommendation that a procedure
be introduced for prior clarification of customs regulations in
order to cut the time subsequently taken to clear ships and
(b) observance of the recommendation that the efficiency and
speed of maritime transport operations should not be impeded
by the collection of statistical data. The Commission’s current
proposal should therefore be further developed in future
Directives.

Brussels, 30 May 2001.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on ‘the Commission Staff Working Paper
SEC(2000) 1973 “Science, society and the citizen in Europe”’

(2001/C 221/25)

On 30 May 2001 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 23(3) of its Rules of Procedure,
decided to draw up an opinion on ‘the Commission Staff Working Paper SEC(2000) 1973 “Science,
society and the citizen in Europe”’.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 2 May 2001. The rapporteur was Mr Wolf.

At its 382nd plenary session on 30 and 31 May 2001 (meeting of 30 May) the Economic and Social
Committee adopted the following opinion by 81 votes in favour and one against.

1.

Introduction

Right at the start, the ESC would endorse the following

1.2.
statements by the Commission:

1.1.
Science, society and the citizen is a subject of great
importance in social policy terms. Although its opinion-
forming process on the issue is not yet complete,
the
Commission has drawn up a staff Working Paper SEC(2000)
1973. The ESC takes this Working Paper as a welcome
opportunity to set out its own range of views on this highly
complex matter in an own-initiative opinion and refers
frequently to the Commission document.

‘Science and technology represent one of the forces most
clearly reflecting social change …’ and

‘The questions arising in this area are among the most
complex facing society, owing to their technical nature,
the uncertainties surrounding them,
the know-how
needed to deal with them and their often diffuse nature.’