Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL concerning flag State responsibilities for the enforcement of Council Directive 2009/13/EC implementing the Agreement concluded by the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and amending Directive 1999/63/EC
Date: 2012-03-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, administrative check, crew, maritime safety, occupational safety, organisation of work, ship's flag

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 23.3.2012  
COM(2012) 134 final 

2012/0065 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

concerning flag State responsibilities for the enforcement of Council Directive 
2009/13/EC implementing the Agreement concluded by the European Community 
Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation 
(ETF) on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and amending Directive 1999/63/EC

(Text with EEA relevance) 

 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

The  Maritime  Labour  Convention  (MLC),  2006  was  adopted  by  the  International  Labour 
Organisation (ILO) with a quasi unanimous vote on 23 February 2006 in Geneva. It applies to 
international  shipping  and  covers  essential  matters  such  as  the  minimum  requirements  for 
seafarers to work on board a ship (title I of the MLC), conditions of employment (title II of 
the  MLC),  accommodation,  recreational  facilities,  food  and  catering  (title  III  of  the  MLC) 
health  protection,  medical  care,  welfare  and  social  security  protection  (title  IV)  and 
compliance  and  enforcement  (title  V)  in  order  to  guarantee  decent  working  and  living 
conditions  on  board  ships,  as  well  as  procedures  to  implement  these  provisions.  The 
Convention  can  be  considered  as  the  first  maritime  labour  code  for  more  than  1.2  million 
seafarers worldwide, as well as for shipowners and maritime nations around the world.  

The  EU  Member  States  and  the  Commission  have  supported  the  ILO  work  on  this  matter 
from the outset. The EU sees a valuable input in the MLC which aims at establishing a level 
playing field in the worldwide maritime industry by setting common minimum standards for 
all  flags  and  seafarers.  In  this  respect,  the  EU  has  already  adopted  Council  Decision 
2007/431/EC  of  7  June  2007  authorising  Member  States  to  ratify,  in  the  interest  of  the 
European  Community,  the  Maritime  Labour  Convention,  2006,  of  the  International  Labour 
Organisation1.  Some  Member  States  have  already  ratified  it  (Spain,  Bulgaria,  Luxembourg, 
Denmark,  Latvia,  the  Netherlands)  and  others  are  about  to  do  so.  On  the  substance,  the 
Member States national legislations are generally more protective and detailed than the ILO 
standards. To maintain the consistency between the international and national standards and to 
ratify the Convention, an extensive and time consuming screening of the national legislations 
is the prerequisite.  

At this stage, 22 countries  have  ratified the  MLC  representing  more  than  45%  of  the  world 
fleet  tonnage  while  30  ratifications  and  33%  of  the  world  fleet  tonnage  are  required  by  the 
MLC to enter into force.  

The EU also adopted Council Directive 2009/13/EC of 16 February 2009, implementing the 
Agreement  concluded  by  the  European  Community  Shipowners’  Associations  (ECSA)  and 
the  European  Transport  Workers’  Federation  (ETF)  on  the  Maritime  Labour  Convention, 
2006, and amending Directive 1999/63/EC2. Directive 2009/13/EC constitutes an outstanding 
achievement of the sectoral social dialogue and the present proposal aims at ensuring that it is 
endowed with proper enforcement means in the Union. 

To  this  end  it  is  foreseen,  on  the  one  hand,  to  require  Member  States  to  apply  Directive 
2009/13/EC when they wield their powers as flag States.  

As things stand, through Directive 2009/13/EC, European legislation has been put in line with 
the international standards fixed by the MLC. This Directive took up the relevant provisions 
of  the  MLC  establishing  rights  for  seafarers  contained  in  its  Titles  I,  II,  III  and  IV  above 
mentioned.  

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2 

OJ L 161, 22.06.2007, p.63 
OJ L 124, 20.05.2009, p.30 

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However, the European social partners, wishing to implement their agreement by means of a 
Council decision on the basis of Article 155 TFEU, do not have the power to include in their 
Agreement  the  enforcement  provisions  contained  in  Title  V  of  the  MLC  and  asked  the 
Commission to act in this respect. The present initiative aims precisely to do so on the flag 
State responsibilities.  

This initiative is part of the EU policy on the maritime professions. In fact, as stated by the 
Commission  in  its  Communication  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European 
Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  -  Strategic  goals  and 
recommendations  for  the  EU's  maritime  transport  policy  until  20183,  there  is  a  genuine  EU 
interest in enhancing the attractiveness of the maritime professions to Europeans by means of 
actions that involve, where appropriate, the Commission, the Member States and the industry 
itself.  This  fully  applies  to  the  implementation  of  the  MLC  which  considerably  improves 
working  and  living  conditions  on  board  ships.  The  Communication  underlines  that  the 
agreement  between  EU  social  partners  on  the  implementation  of  key  elements  of  this 
Convention demonstrates the wide support within the industry in this field and that, therefore, 
action of the EU and its Member States should aim to: 

– move towards rapid ratification of the MLC by Member States and the early adoption of the 
Commission’s  proposals  based  on  the  social  partners'  agreement  for  implementing  its  key 
elements in EU law. 

– ensure the effective enforcement of the new rules by means of adequate measures, including 
flag and port State control requirements.4 

The  White  Paper  on  the  Roadmap  to  a  Single  European  Transport  Area  –  Towards  a 
competitive  and  resource  efficient  transport  system5  highlights  the  importance  of  a  social 
agenda  for  the  maritime  transport  to  both  promote  jobs  and  enhance  safety  and  the  Staff 
Working  Document  accompanying  the  White  Paper  foresees  a  proposal  to  ensure  effective 
enforcement of the MLC. 

This  proposal  is  closely  associated  with  the  Proposal  for  a  Directive  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/16/EC on port State control, aimed to 
ensure a global level-playing field for industry by enforcing the MLC in all European ports.  

1.1 

The Maritime Labour Convention 

As  generally  acknowledged  and  explicitly  stated  by  the  ILO,  the  shipping  industry  is  “the 
world’s first genuinely global industry” which “requires an international regulatory response 
of an appropriate kind – global standards applicable to the entire industry”.  

The  MLC,  adopted  in  2006,  provides  comprehensive  rights  and  protection  at  work  for  all 
seafarers regardless of their nationality and the flag of the ship. 

The  MLC  aims  to  both  achieve  decent  working  conditions  for  seafarers  and  secure  fair 
competition for quality shipowners. It sets out seafarers' rights to decent conditions of work 

3 
4 
5 

COM(2009) 8 
See paragraph 3 of the Communication.  
COM (2011) 144 final 

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on  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  and  has  been  designed  to  be  globally  applicable,  easily 
understandable,  updatable  and  uniformly  enforced.  It  has  also  been  designed  to  become  a 
global  instrument  known  as  the  "fourth  pillar"  of  the  international  regulatory  regime  for 
quality  shipping,  complementing  the  three  key  Conventions  of  the  International  Maritime 
Organization  (IMO):  the  International  Convention  for  the  Safety  of  Life  at  Sea  (SOLAS 
Convention), the International Convention on Standards of Certification, Training and Watch 
keeping (STCW Convention) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution 
from Ships (MARPOL Convention).  

It contains four Titles dealing with the seafarers’ rights: Title 1 on minimum requirements for 
seafarers  to  work  on  board  a  ship;  Title  2  on  conditions  of  employment;  Title  3  on 
accommodation,  recreational  facilities,  food  and  catering;  Title  4  on  health  protection, 
medical care, welfare and social security protection.  

Moreover, the MLC, in its Title 5, contains mechanisms to improve supervision at all levels: 
the ship, the company, the flag State, the port State, the labour supplying State and the ILO 
system for a global and uniform compliance and verification. Indeed, together with a sound 
corpus of rules, a more effective enforcement and compliance system was needed in order to 
eliminate  substandard  ships  for  the  sake  of  ship  safety  and  security  and  environmental 
protection.  

Therefore, the EU has to provide means, through flag State and port State control to ensure 
that the relevant MLC maritime labour standards are applied on board all ships calling at EU 
ports, regardless of the nationality of the seafarers. 

The enforcement of the MLC standards through flag State and port State control has also to be 
seen as a way to limit social dumping, which deteriorates working conditions on board, and 
penalises shipowners offering decent working conditions complying with the ILO rules.  

1.2. 

The MLC flag State responsibilities 

By adopting the MLC, the ILO has developed innovative provisions regarding certification of 
labour conditions on board ships.  

The  MLC  establishes  a  strong  enforcement  regime,  backed  by  a  certification  system  where 
the  flag  State  (or  a  recognized  organisation/entity  acting  on  its  behalf)  reviews  the 
shipowners’  compliance  plans  and  verifies  and  certifies  that  they  are  actually  in  place  and 
being  implemented.  Ships  will  be  required  to  carry  a  maritime  labour  certificate  and  a 
declaration of maritime labour compliance on board. These documents will be produced by 
the  flag  State  exerting  jurisdiction  over  the  ships  and  certifying  the  outcome  of  the  checks. 
Under  the  MLC,  this  requirement  concerns  ships  above  500  gross  tonnage  (GT)  that  are 
engaged  in  international  voyages  or  in  cabotage  abroad.  However,  EU  Flag  States  will  be 
expected to ensure that national laws and regulations implementing Directive 2009/13/EC are 
respected  on  smaller  ships  (less  than  500  GT)  for  which  the  certification  is  not  mandatory 
under  the  MLC.  In  order  to  avoid  adding  a  further  regulatory  layer  on  Member  States,  the 
whole system of certification has not been integrated into EU law by the present proposal, but 
left to international law.  

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1.3. 

Current EU legislation 

The EU has set up a legal framework to increase maritime safety by adopting three maritime 
safety  packages,  the  latest  dating  from  2009.  Some  of  the  EU  rules  on  maritime  safety  and 
health and safety are relevant for the present proposal. They are shortly summarised below. 

1.3.1  Directive  2009/21/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  April 

2009 on compliance with flag State requirements6 

At  EU  level,  Directive  2009/21/EC  aims  to  ensure  that  Member  States  effectively  and 
consistently discharge their obligations as flag States, to enhance safety and prevent pollution 
from ships flying their flag. It provides for the conditions for ships to be registered under the 
flag  of  a  Member  State  and  the  obligation  for  flag  States  to  set  up  a  quality  management 
system  and  internal  evaluation  in  line  with  the  international  standards.  To  this  end,  IMO 
standards - in particular the mandatory audit plan of national maritime administrations and the 
IMO Flag State Code - apply. 

Directive 2009/21/EC, however, does not contain a list of duties that have to be performed by 
the flag State but refers to IMO procedures. Therefore, the specific duties for the  flag State 
implied  by  the  enforcement  of  Directive  2009/13/EC,  should  be  introduced  into  EU  law. 
Since the objectives of the current proposal are separate and different by nature from those of 
Directive  2009/21,  it  appears  more  consistent  to  opt  for  a  stand  alone  proposal  rather  than 
amending Directive 2009/21/EC. 

1.3.2  Directive 2009/13/EC 

Following the agreement between the EU social partners, Directive 2009/13/EC implements 
certain standards of the MLC within Union law. Its annex, in particular, has incorporated the 
relevant elements of Titles 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the MLC on the minimum requirements to work on 
board ships (medical certificate, minimum age, training and qualifications), the conditions of 
employment (seafarer's employment agreements, repatriation, compensation for the ship's loss 
or  foundering,  manning  level,  career  and  skill  development  and  opportunities  for  seafarers' 
employment),  provisions  on  accommodation,  recreational  facilities,  food  and  catering,  the 
provisions on health protection, medical care and welfare including the shipowners' liability 
and  access  to  shore  based  facilities  and  lastly  the  provisions  on  onboard  complaint 
procedures.  

Except  as  expressly  provided  otherwise,  Directive  2009/13/EC  applies  to  all  ships  whether 
publicly  or  privately  owned,  ordinarily  engaged  in  commercial  activities,  other  than  ships 
engaged  in  fishing  or  in  similar  pursuits  and  ships  of  traditional  build  such  as  dhows  and 
junks. The Directive does not apply to warships and naval auxiliaries. 

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES  

The  EU  Member  States  actively  took  part  in  the  MLC  negotiations  with  the  Commission 
which  organised  the  co-ordination  of  the  EU  positions.  All  EU  member  States  adopted  the 
MLC in 2006.  

6 

OJ L131, 28.05.2009, p.132 

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A  fully  fledged  public  consultation  offered  an  opportunity  for  Member  States  and 
stakeholders to express their views in June 2011.  

There was a  general consensus  on  the  need  for updating the legislation related  to  flag State 
and port State in order to enforce the MLC requirements.  

The  specific  positive  effects  which  were  underlined  were  reinforcing  maritime  safety, 
improving quality shipping, making the conditions of competition fairer between EU and non 
EU operators and between EU and non EU flags.  

Stakeholders  also  mentioned  the  better  job  quality  for  all  seafarers,  namely  EU  seafarers 
working on board EU flagged vessels, EU seafarers working on board non EU flagged ships, 
even beyond the EU, for non EU seafarers working on board non EU flagged ships. 

The Task Force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness, an independent body set up 
by Vice-President Siim Kallas in July 2010, which finalised its work in June 2011 and issued 
a Report7 containing policy recommendations on how to promote the seafaring profession in 
Europe, has recommended the enforcement of the MLC. 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

3.1 

The content of the Proposal 

3.1.1 

Responsibilities of the Flag State 

The national flag constitutes the primary source of State responsibility for a ship. Flag States 
are required to ensure that their ships comply with the standards accepted by flag States under 
international  law  and  conventions,  in  particular  with  international  minimum  standards.  This 
means that a flag State’s ships are to be operated and maintained in a manner that minimizes 
the  risk  to  seafarers,  the  marine  environment,  and  the  cargo.  Article  94  of  the  1982  United 
Nations  Convention  on  the  Law  of  the  Sea  (UNCLOS  1982),  establishes  flag  States’ 
fundamental duties and Article 94(5) requires flag States to take any steps necessary to secure 
observance with generally accepted international regulations, procedures and practice. 

The  flag  State  exercises  effective  jurisdiction and  control  over  administrative,  technical  and 
social matters  on  their  ships  and  crew on the high seas. It enforces regulations over vessels 
registered under its flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of 
safety and pollution prevention documents.  

In concrete terms, before allowing a ship to fly their flag, Member States shall check that the 
ship  complies  with  international  rules  and  regulations  in  the  domains  falling  within  its 
responsibilities.  

The current proposal on flag State is limited to taking up some parts of Title V of the MLC 
related to the flag State's responsibilities. As mentioned, Directive 2009/21/EC on flag State is 
complemented  but  not  amended  by  the  present  proposal.  The  proposal  provides  for  the 
enforcement and compliance of the flag State with Directive 2009/13/EC. 

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Published on 20 July 2011: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/maritime/seafarers/doc/2011-06-09-tfmec.pdf 

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However,  the  MLC  provisions  setting  up  the  duty  for  the  ships  to  bear  a  maritime  labour 
certificate and a declaration of maritime labour compliance and certifying that all the 14 MLC 
matters  (minimum  age  of  seafarers,  medical  certification  of  seafarers,  qualifications  of 
seafarers,  seafarers’  employment  agreements,  use  of  any  licensed  or  certified  or  regulated 
private recruitment and placement service for seafarers, hours of work or rest, manning levels 
for  the  ship,  accommodation,  on-board  recreational  facilities,  food  and  catering,  health  and 
safety  and  accident  prevention,  on-board  medical  care,  on-board  complaint  procedures, 
payment of wages) could not be all transposed into EU law for reason of EU competence and 
political opportunity.  

Thus, Directive 2009/13 does not encompass the full range of matters covered by the MLC. 
As a consequence, the obligations of the EU flag States are limited to enforce the provisions 
of Directive 2009/13/EC. 

3.1.2  Detailed content of the proposal 

Directive  2009/21/EC  seeks  to  ensure  that  the  flag  of  all  EU  Member  States  have  good 
standing (not being blacklisted…) and to incorporate the International Maritime Organisation 
(IMO)'s flag State audit scheme into EU law and to introduce the quality certification of the 
national  maritime  authorities  while  the  present  proposal  has  different  purposes.  The  present 
proposal  does  not  refer  to  any  IMO  procedures  but  lays  down  principles  to  monitor  the 
application  of  Directive  2009/13/EC  taking  up  some  of  the  Maritime  Labour  Convention 
standards. For the sake of clarity, it is preferable to have a separate text. 

Article 1 describes the subject matter of the proposal consisting in ensuring that the EU flag 
States meet their responsibilities in applying and enforcing Directive 2009/13/EC.  

Article 2 refers to the definition of ship and shipowner based on the MLC definition and used 
in Directive 2009/13 to avoid any discrepancy between the standards and the implementation 
measures.  

Article 3 lays down the obligation for flag State to establish mechanisms for inspection and to 
ensure the compliance of its ships with Directive 2009/13/EC.  

Article  4  refers  to  professional  qualifications  and  independence  of  the  staffs  in  charge  of 
verifying  that  the  matters  covered  by  Directive  2009/13/EC  are  rightly  applied  on  board 
vessels flying the flags of the Member States concerned.  

Article 5 deals with the complaints on board EU flagged ships and lays down the principles 
and procedure to be followed by the flag States competent staff.  

3.1.3 

Explanatory documents accompanying the notification of transposition measures  

Further  to  the  Joint  Political  Declarations  (OJ  2011/C  369/02;  OJ  2011/C  369/03)8,  the 
Commission is now considering the need for explanatory documents on a case by case basis. 
By  virtue  of  proportionality,  explanatory  documents  have  not  been  deemed  justified  in  the 
present proposal, which does not modify any other existing legislative act, to avoid possible 
additional administrative burden and since the proposal is well delimited and does not affect 

8 

COM ((2007) 502)  

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heavily regulated  domains  at national level. Thus, the present proposal does not include the 
recital on explanatory documents.. 

3.2 

Legal basis 

Article 100(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

3.3 

Subsidiarity principle 

Harmonised  rules  on  enforcement  across  the  EU  should  contribute  to  establishing  a  level 
playing  field  in  order  to  both  avoid  distortions  of  competition  in  the  internal  market  at  the 
expense  of  maritime  safety  and  to  ensure  decent  working  and  living  conditions  for  all 
seafarers  regardless  of  their  nationality.  In  particular  the  experience  of  port  State  control  at 
EU  level  has  proved  efficient  to  ensure  better  surveillance  of  ships  calling  at  EU  ports  by 
pooling resources and exchanging information. 

3.4 

Proportionality principle 

Measures  by  flag  State  is  the  prime  means  of  enforcement  in  the  shipping  industry.  The 
current  proposal  aims  at  strenghening  the  role  of  the  flag  State  in  monitoring  the  effective 
application  of  Directive  2009/13/EC  in  a  consistent  way,  avoid  the  Member  States  to  act 
individually  at  the  expense  of  consistency  and  possibly  in  breach  of  either  international  or 
Union law. 

3.5 

Choice of instruments 

In a context of minimum standards to be implemented by Member States by measures in their 
own national systems and in the field of shared competences, the appropriate instrument is a 
directive.  

3.6 

Entry into force 

This  Directive  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  date  of  entry  into  force  of  the  Maritime  Labour 
Convention, 2006, similar to Directive 2009/13. 

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2012/0065 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

concerning flag State responsibilities for the enforcement of Council Directive 
2009/13/EC implementing the Agreement concluded by the European Community 
Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation 
(ETF) on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and amending Directive 1999/63/EC 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 100(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee9,  

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions10,  

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Union action in the field of maritime transport aims, inter alia, at improving shipboard 
living  and  working  conditions  of  seafarers,  safety  at  sea  and  the  prevention  of 
pollution caused by maritime accidents. 

The Union is aware of the fact that most accidents at sea are directly caused by human 
factors, especially fatigue. 

One of the main objectives of the maritime safety policy of the Union is to eradicate 
substandard shipping. 

On  23  February  2006,  the  International  Labour  Organisation  adopted  the  Maritime 
Labour  Convention,  2006  (the  Convention),  desiring  to  create  a  single,  coherent 
instrument  embodying  as  far  as  possible  all  up-to-date  standards  of  existing 

9 
10 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 

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(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

international  maritime  labour  conventions  and  recommendations,  as  well  as  the 
fundamental principles to be found in other international labour conventions. 

Council Decision 2007/431/EC of 7 June 200711 has authorised the Member States to 
ratify the Convention. Member States are urged to ratify it as soon as possible  

The Convention sets out maritime labour standards for all seafarers regardless of their 
nationality and of the flag of the ships. 

Council  Directive  2009/13/EC  of  16  February  200912  implements  the  Agreement 
concluded  by  the  European  Community  Shipowners'  Associations  (ECSA)  and  the 
European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) on the Maritime Labour Convention, 
2006 and amending Directive 1999/63/EC (the Agreement).  

(8) 

Directive 2009/13/EC was adopted on the basis of Article 155 of the Treaty. 

(9) 

Since agreements concluded by virtue of Article 155 of the Treaty to be implemented 
by  Council  decisions  can  only  cover  matters  defined  by  Article  153  of  the  Treaty, 
certain  provisions  of  the  Convention  relating  to  flag  State  responsibilities  for  the 
enforcement of the Convention could not be part of the social agreement implemented 
by  Directive  2009/13/EC.  Those  provisions  should  be  integrated  into  Union  law  by 
virtue of this Directive.  

(10)  Although  Directive  2009/21/EC  governs 

responsibilities  by 
incorporating the IMO's flag State audit scheme into Union law and by introducing the 
certification  of  quality of national maritime  authorities; a  separate  directive  covering 
the  maritime  labour  standards  is  deemed  more  appropriate  and  clearer  to  reflect  the 
different purposes and procedures,  

flag  State 

the 

(11)  Directive 2009/13/EC applies to seafarers on board ships flying the flag of a Member 
State. Member States should therefore monitor compliance with all the provisions of 
that Directive by ships flying their flag. 

(12)  For the control of the effective enforcement of Directive 2009/13/EC, it is necessary 
that  Member  States  verify  through  regular  inspections,  monitoring  and  other  control 
measures,  that  ships  that  fly  their  flag  comply  with  the  requirements  of  Directive 
2009/13/EC. 

(13)  Since the objectives of this Directive cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member 
States  and  can  therefore,  by  reason  of  the  scale  or  effects  of  the  action,  be  better 
achieved  at  Union  level,  the  Union  may  adopt  measures,  in  accordance  with  the 
principle of subsidiarity  as  set out  in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance  with the 
principle  of  proportionality,  as  set  out  in  that  Article,  this  Directive  does  not  go 
beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.  

(14)  Since  this  Directive  enforces  Directive  2009/13/EC,  this  Directive  should  enter  into 

force on the same date as Directive 2009/13/EC, 

11 

12 

OJ L 161, 22.6.2007, p. 63 

OJ L 124, 20.5.2009, p. 30. 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

Article 1  

Subject matter  

This  Directive  lays  down  rules  to  ensure  that  Member  States  effectively  discharge  their 
obligations  as  flag  States  to  monitor  compliance  of  ships  flying  their  flag  with  Directive 
2009/13/EC.  This  Directive  is  without  prejudice  to  Directive  2009/21/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council13. 

Article 2  

Definitions 

For the purpose of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:  

a) "ship" means a ship other than one which navigates exclusively in inland waters or waters 
within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply;  

b)  "shipowner"  means  the  owner  of  the  ship  or  another  organisation  or  person,  such  as  the 
manager, agent or bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of 
the ship from the owner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over the 
duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners in accordance with the Annex to Directive 
2009/13/EC,  regardless  of  whether  any  other  organisation  or  persons  fulfil  certain  of  the 
duties or responsibilities on behalf of the shipowner. 

Article 3 

Compliance monitoring 

Member  States  shall  ensure  that  appropriate  checks  and  monitoring  mechanisms  are 
established  and  that  effective  and  adequate  inspections  are  carried  out  to  ensure  that  the 
working  and  living  conditions  of  seafarers  on  ships  flying  their  flag  meet,  and  continue  to 
meet, the requirements of Directive 2009/13/EC. 

Article 4  

Staff in charge of compliance monitoring  

Member  States  shall  ensure  that  staff  in  charge  of  verifying  the  proper  implementation  of 
Directive  2009/13/EC  has  the  training,  competence,  terms  of  reference,  powers,  status  and 

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independence  necessary  or  desirable  so  as  to  enable  them  to  carry  out  that  verification  and 
ensure compliance with that Directive.  

Article 5  

Complaints 

1. 

2. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

If  a  Member  State  receives  a  complaint  which  it  does  not  consider  manifestly 
unfounded or obtains evidence that a ship that flies its flag does not conform to the 
requirements  of  Directive  2009/13/EC  or  that  there  are  serious  deficiencies  in  its 
implementing  measures,  that  Member  State  shall  take  the  steps  necessary  to 
investigate  the  matter  and  ensure  that  action  is  taken  to  remedy  any  deficiencies 
found.  

Staff in charge of dealing with complaints shall treat as confidential the source of any 
grievance  or  complaint  alleging  a  danger  or  deficiency  in  relation  to  seafarers' 
working  and  living  conditions  or  a  violation  of  laws  and  regulations  and  give  no 
intimation to the shipowner, the shipowner's representative or the operator of the ship 
that an inspection was made as a consequence of such a grievance or complaint.  

Article 6  

Transposition 

Member  States  shall  bring  into  force  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative 
provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not later than 12 months after its 
entry  into  force.  They  shall  forthwith  communicate  to  the  Commission  the  text  of 
those provisions. 

When  Member  States  adopt  those  provisions,  they  shall  contain  a  reference  to  this 
Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official 
publication.  The  methods  of  making  such reference  shall  be  laid  down  by  Member 
States. 

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions 
of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive. 

Article 7  

Entry into force 

This Directive shall enter into force on the date of entry into force of Directive 2009/13/EC. 

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Article 8  

Addressees 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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