Commission staff working document accompanying the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in or departing from ports of the Member States of the Community and repealing directive 2002/6/EC - Report on impact assessment of different options to simplify/reduce/eliminate administrative procedures for Short Sea Shipping and implementing a European Maritime Transport Space without Barriers - Summary of the impact assessment {COM(2009) 11 final} {SEC(2009) 46}
Date: 2009-01-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: administrative formalities, customs regulations, harbour installation, impact study, report, simplification of formalities, vessel

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 21.1.2009 
SEC(2009) 47 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying the 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on reporting formalities for ships arriving in or departing from ports of the Member 
States of the Community and repealing directive 2002/6/EC 

Report on impact assessment of different options to simplify/reduce/eliminate 
administrative procedures for Short Sea Shipping 
and implementing a European Maritime Transport Space without Barriers 

SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

{COM(2009) 11 final} 
{SEC(2009) 46} 

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SUMMARY 

Fast  growth  of  heavy  road  transport  and  related  congestion,  accidents  and  pollution  are  the 
main  economic,  social  and  environmental  problems  that  the  policy  to  promote  Short  Sea 
Shipping  is  expected  to  address.  Europe  needs  an  efficient  co-modal  transport  system 
combining  the  benefits  of  all  modes  to  maintain  and  increase  its  competitiveness  and 
prosperity  in  line  with  the  Lisbon  agenda  and  the  mid-term  review  of  the  White  Paper  on 
European Transport Policy. 

Complex  administrative  procedures  hinder  Short  Sea  Shipping  from  developing  faster.  The 
administrative procedures involved have negative economic consequences, in particular costs 
that are associated with administrative delays, frequent or regular controls and the time spent 
preparing documentation and procedures. This complexity also decreases the attractiveness of 
the  mode  and  entails  that  Short  Sea  Shipping  cannot  fully  contribute  the  efficiency  and 
sustainability of the European transport system. 

While  the  removal  of  obstacles  to  land  transport  has  finally  become  a  reality,  the  Internal 
Market across the European Union is so far incomplete for Short Sea Shipping. 

Under the concept of European Maritime Transport Space without Barriers, the Commission 
services  have  assessed  the  main  administrative  and  documentary  procedures  in  Short  Sea 
Shipping  with  a  view  to  simplifying,  reducing  or,  when  possible,  eliminating  them  for 
transport operations between two EU ports. 

In particular, the following procedures were examined: 

•  Customs procedures (including simplified procedures); 

•  Ship reporting procedures. 

•  Veterinary and phytosanitary procedures; 

•  Carriage of dangerous goods; 

Further enablers were also considered: 

•  Electronic transmission of administrative data; 

•  Single window for all administrative formalities; 

•  One-stop shop for controls; 

•  Pilot Exemption Certificates; 

•  Alternative administrative language; 

•  Dedicated areas for Short Sea Shipping in ports. 

The policy options that were considered were: 

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– 

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Status quo as baseline scenario; 

Case-by-case simplification of individual administrative formalities; 

Act  on  the  basis  of  a  co-ordinated  set  of  measures  simplifying,  reducing,  and, 
wherever  possible,  eliminating  formalities  for  vessels  sailing  between  EU-ports  in 
line with the model of the Internal Market offered by land transport. 

The impact assessment of these options was based on many assumptions made under careful 
consideration  of  the  contributions  of  all  stakeholders.  It  showed  with  sufficient  confidence 

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that administrative simplification brings clear benefits and that the maritime transport sector 
should not be excluded from the general free-circulation regime in place for land transport. 

The  initiative  has  received  full  support  from  the  stakeholders  involved,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
cornerstones of the recent Communication on an integrated maritime policy, the "Blue Book". 
The  stakeholders  considered  that  not  only  the  actual  delays,  but  the  risk  of  delays  are 
important  disincentives  to  use  Short  Sea  Shipping.  Reliability  and  punctuality  are  the  most 
important factors and will be improved by the proposed measures at a rather moderate cost for 
the  society.  The  alignment  of  administrative  formalities  applied  to  intra-EU  maritime 
transport with the other modes will attract more shippers to maritime transport. 

It  is  thus  suggested  that  the  Commission  adopts  an  action  plan  to  simplify  existing 
administrative procedures and eliminate some of them. The action plan comprises short term 
measures: 

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Rationalisation  of  vessel-related  and  goods-related  reporting  and  forms  required  by 
Directives  2002/6/EC  (formalities  for  vessels  at  the  arrival/departure  of  ports), 
2000/59/EC  (waste  and  residue  reception),  2002/59/EC  (vessel  monitoring)  and 
Regulation (EC) N° 725/2004 (maritime security). 

Elimination of systematic controls and documentary requests by Customs for goods 
carried  by  sea  between  EU  ports  in  line  with  inland  transport.  The  measure  will 
require  a  modification  of  the  implementing  provision  of  the  Community  customs 
code1 and should be in force by 2010. 

Concerning  the  legislation  on  veterinary  and  phytosanitary  products,  guidelines 
should be adopted in 2009 in order to speed up the documentary checks in Directives 
89/662/EEC2, 90/425/EEC3 and 2000/29/EC4. 

Further enabling measures would also need to be implemented, namely: 

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– 

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Enhancing the electronic transmission of administrative data; 

Setting-up an administrative single window; 

Simplification  of  the  sea  transport  of  dangerous  goods  by  implementing  in  the  EU 
Member  States  the equivalence between some  IMDG  (carriage  of  dangerous  goods 
by sea) rules and those of ADR/RID (carriage of dangerous goods by road/rail). 

The  two  first  measures  could  be  implemented  and  co-ordinated  under  wider  proposals,  in 
particular those to be included in the action plan for the deployment of e-maritime systems in 
2009. 

In addition, recommendations should be given that Member States implement further enabling 
measures, each time the local conditions permit to do it in an efficient manner, namely: 

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Council  Regulation  (EEC)  N°  2913/92  of  12  October  1992  and  Council  Regulation  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  Regulation  (EC)  N°  450/2008  of  23  April  2008  laying  down  the  Community 
Customs Code; OJ L 145 of 4.6.2008, p. 1 
Council Directive of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra-Community trade with a 
view to the completion of the Internal Market; OJ L 395 of 30.12.1989, p. 13 
Council  Directive  90/425/EEC  of  26  June  1990  concerning  veterinary  and  zootechnical  checks 
applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion 
of the internal market; OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 29 
Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 on protective measures against the introduction into the 
Community  of  organisms  harmful  to  plants  or  plant  products  and  against  their  spread  within  the 
Community; OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1 

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– 

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Coordinate  the  inspections  carried  out  in  the  ports  by  the  various  administrative 
services (“one-stop administrative shop”); 

Extend the scope of Pilot Exemption Certificates; 

Introduce the use of the language most commonly used at sea as an alternative to the 
national language(s) in administrative communication; 

Create  areas  in  ports  dedicated  to  Short  Sea  Shipping  where  that  can  facilitate  the 
operations for this mode. 

This  combination  and  co-ordinated  implementation  of  the  measures  will  allow  cost  savings 
and productivity benefits while maintaining the availability of essential information. 

Information  on  goods  under  Customs  and  other  types  of  supervision  (animal  product, 
veterinary and phytosanitary) would still be available and have to be presented at spot checks. 

The  package  will  allow  a  reduction  of  administrative  burden  estimated  at  €  2.4  billion  and 
environmental  benefits  estimated  at  €  182-365  millions  during  the  period  2009-2040.  The 
costs  for  designing,  developing  and  operating  the  measures  are  estimated  at  €  617  millions. 
They  would  be  shared  by  the  economic  operators,  essentially  port  authorities  and  shipping 
companies. The costs for national administrations would be negligible. 

The  approach  would  not  risk  lowering  standards  and  thus  preserves  the  fundamental 
objectives of Customs and safety related regulations. 

It would help lowering the costs to businesses in several Member States and, subsequently, to 
consumers. 

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