Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No. 1406/2002 establishing a European Maritime Safety Agency’ (COM(2003) 440 final - 2003/0159 (COD))
Date: 2004-01-28
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU office or agency, application of EU law, maritime safety, pollution from ships, prevention of pollution

C 108/52

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.4.2004

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No. 1406/2002 establishing a
European Maritime Safety Agency’

(COM(2003) 440 final - 2003/0159 (COD))

(2004/C 108/07)

On 8 September 2003, the Council decided to consult the European 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 January 2004. The rapporteur
was Mr Chagas.

At its 405th plenary session of 28 and 29 January 2004 (meeting of 28 January), the European Economic
and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 107 votes with two abstentions.

1. The Commission proposal

— clearly defining the Agency's role in recognising the qualifi-
cations of third country seafarers, in line with Community
legislation on the minimum level of training of seafarers.

1.1
The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) was set
up under Regulation (EC) No. 1406/2002 (1)
following the
‘Erika’ oil tanker disaster in late 1999, with the purpose of
ensuring ‘a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety
and prevention of pollution by ships within the Community’.
The Agency will provide Member States with technical and
scientific assistance in order to ensure that Community legisla-
tion on maritime safety and the prevention of pollution by
ships is properly applied.

1.2
The Agency is also responsible for collecting informa-
tion and exploiting databases on maritime safety; evaluating
and auditing classification societies; and organising inspection
missions in the Member States to monitor the conditions for
ship inspections by the port State.

1.3

In particular, the Commission proposes:

— providing the Agency with the legal competence and the
necessary means to respond to accidental or unlawful pollu-
tion caused by ships, and offering the possibility of char-
tering specialised ships and the necessary equipment
to
respond to maritime pollution;

— expanding the Agency's objectives to include maritime
transport security, as justified by the rise in terrorist threats
against ships and port facilities, and the need to ensure that
laid down in the Commission
the security measures
Communication
transport
enhancing maritime
security (2) are properly applied;

on

(1) OJ L 208 of 5.8.2002, p. 1
(2) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European
Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of
the Regions on enhancing maritime transport
security, COM(2003) 229 final.

2. General comments

its responsibilities,

Given the scope of

the European
2.1
Maritime Safety Agency clearly plays an essential
role in
ensuring that Community and international rules on maritime
safety and the prevention of accidental or unlawful pollution
by ships are applied in an effective and uniform manner.

2.2
For this reason, and in particular following the Prestige
disaster in late 2002, the Commission decided in December of
that year to speed up the creation of the EMSA and not wait
for the Council decision on the future location of the Agency,
which was finally taken by the European Summit in December
2003.

2.3
This has speeded up the entire administrative process of
recruiting staff (still underway), appointing an Administrative
Board and gradually getting all of its services up and running.

As regards the proposed amendments to the EMSA
the Commission proposal,

2.4
Regulation,
subject to the comments made below.

the EESC supports

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2.5
It is a known fact that not all the Member States imple-
ment Community legislation in the same way and at the same
in particular that relating to the safety of Community
time,
shipping. However,
the Commission's efforts to constantly
improve the harmonisation of procedures and implementation,
and thereby improve the safety of people and goods, as well as
environmental protection, are acknowledged. The EESC there-
fore welcomes these amendments, as they strengthen and
clarify the EMSA's role in assisting the Commission in the
following areas: drafting and updating Community legislation
and monitoring its implementation; organising training actions;
compiling and maintaining information databases on maritime
safety, maritime security, prevention of pollution and response
to pollution; cooperation with third countries in these areas;
improving the quality of state port control; and evaluating and
recognising the certification and implementation of relevant
legislation by third parties.

2.6
It is nonetheless important to recall the EESC's opinion
on establishing the EMSA (3), in which it pointed to the need to
make a clear distinction between the remit of the EMSA (which
has no legislative or
the
Committee on Safe Seas (which has a regulatory role).

regulatory powers) and that of

2.7
The EESC therefore calls on the Member States to speed
up the process of drawing up contingency plans, reviewing and
updating existing national plans (including regularly conducting
practical exercises), and acquiring the equipment needed to
respond properly to major accidents.

The EESC also believes that the Agency should play a
2.8
role that supplements actions by the Member States,
i.e. by
providing technical and scientific assistance in the event of acci-
dental or deliberate pollution by ships. However, each Member
State will continue to be responsible for drawing up pollution
prevention and response plans and for providing appropriate
resources for this task. The EESC regrets that, despite the fact
that the Member States are already responsible in this area,
some are still not properly prepared to respond to accidents
such as the Erika and Prestige disasters.

2.9
The EMSA must cooperate with the Member States in
drawing up consistent and coordinated maritime pollution
prevention and response plans, as well as managing the tech-
nical resources available (specialised ships or other equipment).
It would therefore be advisable for the EMSA to be able to play
an active role in emergency situations, without this in any way
diminishing the responsibility of the Member States. This is the
logic behind the introduction of a new point c) iii) in Article 2.

2.10
The EESC also believes that, when ships are chartered
to carry out these tasks, it must be ensured that the owner(s) in
question respect(s) the relevant Community and international
legislation,
in particular that governing safety conditions on
ships and the living and working conditions (and certification)
of crew members.

provided for pollution response assistance. The EESC is of the
view that the competent national authorities should manage
the resources available during the intervention.

Given that some of the States joining the EU in May
2.11
2004 are coastal States and that, according to the monitoring
reports on the progress
towards accession published in
November 2003, all fall seriously short in terms of administra-
tive and technical capacity, the EESC recommends drawing up
special plans to help equip these countries. This would help
prevent certain areas not being covered by any plan or not
having the resources needed to provide assistance in the event
of an accident. Consideration should also be given to possible
forms of cooperation in this area with third countries bordering
Member States.

As regards including maritime security among the
2.12
Agency's responsibilities, the EESC acknowledges that in this
area too it is necessary to ensure that the national plans drawn
up by the Member States are effective. This is an area in which
the EMSA could assist the Commission.
It must be noted,
however, that these national plans sometimes include military
components to which even the EMSA inevitably has only
limited access.
some Member States
blocking such access, it is important to find flexible solutions
that ensure national plans – both individually and as a whole –
are effective, and which take account of restrictions that some
Member States may introduce.

to prevent

In order

it

Above all,

is important

to ensure that rules on
2.13
improving ship and port facility security are transposed and
implemented in a harmonised and consistent manner, without
jeopardising their objectives.

2.14
The EESC would like to point out that the Council of
Transport Ministers already agreed in principle on this proposal
at its meeting in December, without taking account of either
the EESC's opinion or the European Parliament's report, both
of which are still being drafted. Given that
this situation
frequently arises, the EESC calls for referrals submitted to it to
be given sufficiently long deadlines to allow its opinions to be
adopted in good time.

2.15
The Committee also believes that the idea of setting up
an EU Coastguard should be discussed further. Although this is
a delicate matter owing to the fact that it raises questions of
sovereignty and maritime authority, such a coastguard could
supplement the EMSA's role in the areas of prevention and
monitoring.

3. Conclusions

2.10.1
It would be useful to clarify who will be responsible
for the operational management of the ships and equipment

(3) OJ C 221 of 7.8.2001, p. 54.

3.1
The EESC welcomes the Commission proposal and
stresses the EMSA's key role in improving maritime safety in
the Member States. It nevertheless points to the need to make a
clear distinction between the remit of the EMSA and that of the
Committee on Safe Seas.

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The EMSA's role in pollution response must supplement

3.2
and not replace actions by the Member States.

process to be speeded up so that a comprehensive network
covering all Community waters can swiftly be set up.

3.3
The EESC profoundly regrets that, in spite of the Erika I
and II packages, several Member States still do not have the
equipment and human resources necessary to respond to major
accidents. Priority must be given to this.

3.3.1 Moreover,
the Member States are still behind in
drawing up contingency plans. The EESC therefore calls for this

3.4
Particular attention must be given to helping equip the
future Member States in human resources and equipment for
pollution prevention and response.

The EESC recommends discussing further the idea of
the

3.5
setting up an EU coastguard, which could supplement
EMSA's role in the areas of prevention and monitoring.

Brussels, 28 January 2004.

The President

of the European Economic and Social
Committee

Roger BRIESCH