Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on:the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council — Reinforcing quality service in sea ports: A key for European transport, and Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on market access to port services,the Commission Staff Working Document on public financing and charging practices in the Community sea port sector (on the basis of information provided by the Member States), andthe 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: 2002-01-22
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: International Maritime Organisation, harbour installation, maritime transport, market access, transport document, transport safety

22.1.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 19/3

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on:

— the ‘Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council —
Reinforcing quality service in sea ports: A key for European transport, and Proposal for a
Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on market access to port services’,

— the ‘Commission Staff Working Document on public financing and charging practices in the
Community sea port sector (on the basis of information provided by the Member States)’,
and

— 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’

(2002/C 19/02)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council
‘Reinforcing quality service in sea ports: A key for European transport’ and the Proposal for a Directive of
the European Parliament and of the Council on market access to port services [COM(2001) 35 final —
2001/0047 (COD)]; the Commission Staff Working Document on public financing and charging practices
in the Community sea port sector (on the basis of information provided by the Member States) (SEC(2001)
234) and 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 [(COM(2001) 46 final —
2001/0026 (COD)] (1);

having regard to the decisions taken by the Council on 26 February and 13 March 2001 to consult it,
under Articles 265(1) and 80 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 13 June 2000 to direct Commission 3 for Trans-
European Networks, Transport and Information Society to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to Decision 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community
guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network;

having regard to Directive 2000/52/EC on transparency of financial relations between Member States and
public undertakings;

having regard to Directive 98/41/EC on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships
operating to or from ports of the Member States of the Community;

having regard to the draft opinion adopted by Commission 3 on 4 July 2001 (CdR 161/2001 rev.)
(rapporteur: Mr Lamberti, I/PSE);

whereas sea shipping is already very important in the Community and should be developed in order to
establish an efficient intermodal transport network as an alternative to land transport;

whereas ports are crucially important for the implementation of the above, hence the need for
Community-level provisions establishing the right legislative framework to uphold the competition
principles and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the EU Treaty and to improve the efficiency of the
procedures currently in force in ports, while also upholding the subsidiarity principle;

whereas port development is extremely important for coastal regions and local authorities inasmuch as it
can have a weighty impact on the overall economic development of a community,

unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 40th plenary session of 19 and 20 September 2001
(meeting of 20 September).

(1) OJ C 180 E, 26.6.2001, p. 85.

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1. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships
arriving in and departing from Community ports

1.6.
believes that the Article 7 deadline for the harmonis-
ation of national legislation by the Member States should be
fixed at a year following the adoption of the directive.

The Committee of the Regions

1.1.
fully agrees with the directive’s aim to promote short
sea shipping by streamlining the reporting formalities con-
tained in forms to be filled in for ships arriving in or departing
from ports;

1.2.
therefore agrees that the Member States ought to
recognise the following standardised IMO forms (provided for
under the IMO FAL Convention):

— IMO FAL Form No. 1 — General Declaration — contain-

ing information relating to the ship;

— IMO FAL Form No. 3 — Ship’s Stores Declaration;

— IMO FAL Form No. 4 — Crew’s Effects Declaration;

— IMO FAL Form No. 5 — Crew List — containing
information relating to the number and composition of
the crew;

2. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council on market access to port services

The Committee of the Regions

2.1.
believes that sea ports policy should in future also be
framed from an economic and transport policy standpoint,
and be more commercially and business-oriented. Restrictions
or monopolies — whether public or private — on pilotage,
towage, mooring and stevedoring,
for example, must be
phased out;

2.2.
suggests that it should be made clear that the directive
covers typical port services, including those of ports located
on river estuaries which are nonetheless recognised as seaports;

— IMO FAL Form No. 6 — Passenger List — for ships

certified to carry 12 passengers or fewer;

2.3.
believes that the point made in Article 6(5) should be
clarified, as the directive expressly requires Member States to
ensure that their own social legislation is applied;

agrees that it would be inappropriate to recommend

1.3.
the use of IMO FAL forms in the following cases:

— IMO FAL Form No. 2 (Cargo Declaration) would increase
rather than reduce the administrative burden on sea
shipping, as the information required by the form is
already contained in the cargo manifests used by ships
for both commercial and administrative purposes;

— IMO FAL Form No. 6 is inappropriate for ships certified
to carry more than 12 passengers, as the rules set out in
Directive 98/41/EC require more detailed information,
designed to safeguard life at sea (e.g. the need for special
care and assistance), than the IMO form in question;

1.4.
approves the technical specifications made for the
forms and the requirement that the authorities responsible for
controls must recognise as valid information conveyed by any
legible medium, including forms produced by automatic data-
processing techniques;

endorses the procedure proposed for amendments to
1.5.
the directive’s annexes and references to IMO instruments as
set out in Article 5;

2.4.
feels that efficiency, transparency and free access to the
market for port services could be improved without removing
the limitations on numbers of service providers (Article 7), but
rather by securing market access for potential service providers
by applying tender procedures in accordance with the prin-
ciples set out in the relevant Community law;

It also believes that the plan for the competent authorities to
authorise at least two service providers for each category of
cargo handled would be difficult to implement and incompat-
ible with certain types of traffic; the problem is not only the
space and capacity available (these being cited as constraints
justifying a limit on the number of service providers) but also
cost effectiveness, market size and the economic viability of
companies. The scope of technical-nautical services should be
extended to sea approaches and rivers forming the approach
to ports. The directive should also make it possible to combine
port, sea and river pilotage services in invitations to tender. It
is also necessary to carefully assess safety issues with regard to
the inclusion of rules governing technical-nautical services
(with specific reference to pilotage in particular) that are
general services but with highly specific characteristics, for
instance in terms of the professional skills required. The CoR
believes self-handling should not be allowed,
for specific
reasons of port safety.

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2.5.
considers that the directive should clarify whether the
problems of available space and capacity mentioned in
Article 7 must arise from a de facto situation or rather from
predictions to be made by the competent authority; examples
of ‘exceptional circumstances’ should be given and the concept
of ‘category of cargo’ defined;

agrees that selection procedures must apply the criteria
2.6.
of transparency and objectivity and that selection criteria must
be proportionate, non-discriminatory and relevant. Referring
to Article 8(6), however, it feels that the principle of non-
discrimination contained in Article 12(4) and the possibility
for appeal provided for under Article 13 could be sufficient to
make it unnecessary for Member States to appoint other
authorities to carry out the selection procedures in question;

2.7.
is of the view that the maximum duration for authoris-
ations mentioned in Article 9 is too short, as it would not
provide enough time where major investments have been
made by the authorised parties. The result could be a reduced
tendency to invest, with a consequent reduction in the
efficiency of port systems;

2.8.
with due respect for the principle of subsidiarity, feels
the directive should define the scope and limits of
that
self-handling (Article 11) and specify that Member States
authorising self-handling may not apply less strict rules than
those applied to parties providing that service;

2.9.
believes that the transitional regime provided for under
Article 16 should be reviewed and possibly extended, in view
of the implications of introducing new legislation;

2.10.
takes the view that there must be a level playing field
for competition between and within European ports. This
includes the need for financial transparency between Member
States and public undertakings and port service providers;

The Committee of the Regions therefore broadly endorses the
Commission document, subject to the above observations.

Brussels, 20 September 2001.

3. Commission Staff Working Document on Public
Financing and Charging Practices in the Community
(Sea Port Sector)

The Committee of the Regions welcomes the working docu-
ment but feels that before legislative proposals can be made,
further work is needed on certain aspects which the Com-
mission itself recognises were not sufficiently clarified by the
survey.

General comments

The Committee of the Regions

supports all measures aimed at developing European ports and
sea shipping;

approves the overall thrust of the Commission’s proposals for
improving sea shipping, not least by simplifying procedures,
with particular reference to short sea shipping, as they will
help to create the conditions within the European Union for
the sustainable development of intermodal-oriented transport
and thus the development of sea shipping as a valid alternative
to land transport;

emphasises that the implications of this are of great interest to
the regions and local authorities, which as the champions of
the interests of the communities they represent are committed
to comprehensive sustainable development;

recommends the preparation of further measures with a view
to harmonising and simplifying the administrative procedures
required for ships, in order to make sea shipping increasingly
competitive, not least by relying increasingly on the new
tools offered by technology for transmitting and validating
documents, while also providing aid to bring the sea shipping
sector more up-to-date in that domain;

recommends that further attention be given to individual
articles of the directive on access to port services and that
changes be made as described by the Committee in this
opinion.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT