COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Including technical information Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION on the adequacy of national expert resources for complying with the regulatory functions pursuant to Article 27(4) of Directive 2013/30EU
Date: 2016-05-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, gas industry, offshore oil, oil industry, recruitment, staff, supervisory body, underwater mineral resources, vocational training

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 31.5.2016  SWD(2016) 182 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Including technical information   Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION on the adequacy of national expert resources for complying with the regulatory functions pursuant to Article 27(4) of Directive 2013/30EU  {COM(2016) 318 final}  
 
 
Part 1 

Methodology and information base  

In a first step, a descriptive of offshore regulatory competences and resources required to 
carry  out  specific  regulatory  functions  based  on  the  Offshore  Safety  Directive  (OSD)1 
was drawn on the basis of a thorough analysis of an already existing competent authority 
taken as a sample. For this purpose, the UK was chosen in view of its already established 
regulatory  practice  based  on  a  national  legislative  framework  resembling  the  regime 
foreseen  by  OSD.  UK  data  allowed  to  draw  a  generic  inventory  of  skills  necessary  for 
competent authorities implementing OSD-based national regulatory regimes.  

A  link  between  the  size  of  a  Member  State's  offshore  industry  and  the  volume  of 
resources  necessary  for  its  competent  authority  was  established  on  the  basis  of 
Commission  research2  and  discussions  with  the  EU  Offshore  Authorities  Group 
(EUOAG).  The  developed  ratios  served  subsequently  to  scale  resources  needed  for 
individual  Member  States'  competent  authorities  in  accordance  with  their  size  of  the 
offshore operations. 

A survey of existing offshore operations and a projection of size and structure of the EU's 
offshore  industry  by  Member  States  was  carried  out  according  to  two  scenarios  for  the 
industry's  future  development:  a  "business  as  now"  (baseline  scenario)  and  a  "high 
activity scenario" (reflecting a possible increase of offshore activities). This stocktaking 
and  projection  served  to  estimate  and  extrapolate  the  potential  resource  requirements 
after  the  implementation  of  the  OSD  by  a  Member  State  in  line  with  the  current  and 
expected future structure and size of its offshore sector. 

To  provide  a  common  basis  to  the  estimates  of  potential  shortfalls,  the  resource 
requirements  for  each  Member  State  would  always  be  compared  (i)  with  the  current 
administrative  capacity  in  the  Member  State  and  (ii)  with  the  resource  planning  of  the 
Member  State  for  the  year  2016.  Data  on  Member  States  state  of  play  and  plans  were 
gathered via a written survey and interviews with Member States' staff that is competent 
for resources in the national administrations; its quality largely depends on the adequacy 
of data provided by Member States.  

In  the  final  step  the  resource  requirements  were  compared  with  current  and  planned 
resource  availability  to  identify  any  gaps  in  the  provision  of  expert  resource.  Based  on 
this  analysis,  a  "balance  sheet"  by  discipline  and  under  different  activity  scenarios  was 
established.  In  parallel,  the  Commission  took  stock  of  available  Member  States'  means 
and  tools  to  make  up  potential  shortfalls  in  competent  authorities'  resourcing.  This 
allowed for the formulation of recommendations to Member States.  

1 Directive 2013/30/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 12 June 2013 on safety 
of offshore oil and gas operations and amending firective 2004/15/EC. 
2 JRC Science for Policy report 'National expert resources for overseeing offshore safety in the EU', 
Stefania Contini, Athina Kokonozi, Michalis Christou. 

2 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Part 2 

Additional information on chapter 2 of the report on the adequacy of national expert 
resources 

Functions and categories of expertise of Competent Authorities to comply with the 
provisions of the OSD  

Overview on typical regulatory functions, processes and competences  

A. 

Set of regulatory policies, procedures and processes for carrying out the required 
regulatory functions on offshore oil and gas operations. 

Assessment procedure for offshore oil 
and gas installations reports on major 
hazards (RoMHs) 
Investigation  procedure  for  offshore 
oil and gas incidents / accidents 
notifications  of  well  operations  etc. 
assessment procedure for offshore oil 
and gas wells 

A  system  of  training  or  competence 
assurance  for  offshore  technical  and 
regulatory personnel 

Charging regime 

Inspection  procedure  for  offshore  oil  and  gas 
installations 

Enforcement  procedure for  offshore  oil  and  gas 
activities 

A  system  of  offshore  technical  and  regulatory 
guidance 

Data  storage,  handling,  reporting  and  archiving 
systems  (for  storage  of  information  on  the 
findings 
investigations, 
inspections, 
enforcement actions) 
Other – to be specified 

of 

B. 

Set of regulatory arrangements for the interaction with offshore oil and gas 
operations stakeholders in the development of guidance and standards. 

Interaction with industry associations – 
working with industry through initiatives 

Interaction with international and national 
technical standards committees (from 
industry and/or competent authorities) 

Interaction with unions and workers’ 
representation – arrangements for direct 
contact with workforce and workers’ 
representatives 
Interaction with other competent 
authorities / Horizon scanning 
Other – to be specified 

C. 

A set of offshore oil and gas technical and regulatory competences  

Regulatory & Safety Management System 
Specialist 
Mechanical Engineering, Materials & 
Corrosion Specialist 

Process Engineering Specialist incl. Fire 
and Explosion & Risk Assessment 
Diving Specialist 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Environmental Protection & Oil Spill 
Response Specialist 
Wells Specialist 

Pipelines Specialist 

Occupational Health  

Electrical and Control Systems Specialist 

Structural Integrity & Verification 
Specialist 
Evacuation and Emergency Response, 
Marine & Aviation Operations Specialist 
Naval Architecture & Marine engineering 
Specialist  

Organisational & Human Factors Specialist  Legal 
Other 
Administrative 

4 

 
 
 
 
Part 3 

Additional information on chapter 5 of the report on the adequacy of national expert 
resources 

Actual (2014) and planned (2016) staff numbers (Full Time Equivalents) by 
discipline over EU and estimates of resource adequacy by discipline per Group of 
Member States as planned in 20163 

Offshore Expert 
Discipline 

Actual 
total in EU 
for 2014 

Planned 
total in EU 
for 2016 

Estimated 
Gap in 2016 
for MS in 
Group 1  

Estimated 
Gap in 2016 
for MS in 
Group 2 

Estimated  
Gap in 2016 
for MS in 
Group 3 

Regulatory 

Process 

Mech. Eng. 

Diving 

75.7 

25.1 

18.1 

13.1 

Env. Protection 

29.5 

Electr. Eng. 

Wells 

Struct. Eng. 

Pipelines 

Emergency 
response 

10.1 

21.5 

16.3 

9.9 

9.9 

Occ. Health 

11.4 

Naval Architecture  4.5 

Org. and HF. 

Legal 

Admin 

Other 

Total 

7.9 

13.7 

28.7 

9.0 

90.1 

29.9 

21.2 

15.1 

33.6 

14.4 

26.0 

19.8 

12.8 

13.4 

14.4 

10.1 

12.3 

17.9 

35.7 

13.0 

1.9 (69) 

0.7 (12.1) 

8.3 (9.0) 

-0.1(24.8) 

0.7 (4.9) 

-0.5 (0.2) 

-1.7(17.5) 

0.3 (3.5) 

-0.3 (0.2) 

-2.3 (13) 

-0.5 2.1) 

-0.4 (0) 

0.7 (23.7) 

5.8 (9.7) 

-0.4 (0.2) 

-1.0(10.5) 

1.9 (3.8) 

-0.2 (0.1) 

4.3 (20.4) 

0.4 (2.6) 

1.3 (3.0) 

-3.4(13.9) 

0.0 (2.9) 

2.5 (3.0) 

-1.3(10.2) 

0.7 (2.6) 

-0.3 (0) 

-2.2(10.3) 

1.0 (3.1) 

-0.3 (0) 

3.5 (11.2) 

0.8 (2.1) 

0.9 (1.1) 

-3.6 (6.0) 

1.5 (3.1) 

0.7 (1.0) 

-0.4 (9.2) 

0.5 (2.1) 

0.7 (1.0) 

2.5 (13.4) 

1.5 (3.4) 

0.8 (1.1) 

-4.2(27.4) 

0.8 (6.2) 

1.3 (2.1) 

6.0 (6.0) 

4.0 (4.0) 

3.0 (3.0) 

304.4 

379.8 

-1.2 (286.5)  20.1(68.6) 

16.1(25.0) 

3 'Research on Conditions and Design Parameters for Strengthening Offshore Safety Expertise in EU Member States: 
Stage 1', Bio by Deloitte 

5 

 
 
                                                            
 
Negative figures: shortfall 

Positive figures: excess 
Planned total available resource for Group 1, 2 and 3 figure in ( ) for 2016 

Part 4 

Additional information on chapter 7 of the report on the adequacy of national expert 
resources 

Sourcing Options for addressing the resource gaps of a national Competent 
Authority (CA) in the EU 

Options  Name  of 

the 

Sub-options 

Brief description of the option 

option 

Option 1  Baseline: MS’ 

CAs have a fully 
resourced CA 
including 
offshore 
expertise, 
technical and 
knowledge 
systems and 
regulatory 
systems. 

Recruitment 
needs  

Option 
1a  

Recruitment of discipline specialists from the offshore 
industry and other relevant sectors to train them to be 
regulators 

Option 
1b 

Recruit or develop from within CA persons who are 
not as yet technically competent to fill the role of the 
offshore specialist and this will include technical 
training and development in the specialist field. 

Training 
needs  

Option 
1c  

Model I: Training collectively organised by the 
European Commission or other competent body 

Option 
1d 

Model 2: Shared training organised by specific MS 

Option 2 

Intra-EU expert 
transfer and 
knowledge 
sharing 

Option 2a 

Option 2b 

Option 3  Creation of a 

Option 3a 

network of 3rd 
party expertise 
and a dedicated 
mutual facility 
for each 

Bilateral agreements: Intra-EU expert transfer and 
knowledge sharing with bilateral agreements between 
MS 

Multilateral agreements Intra-EU expert transfer and 
knowledge sharing with multilateral agreements 
between MS 

Scenario 1: Network of 3rd party expertise, with a 
central facility organized and controlled by a public 
body (e.g. Commission) 

Option 3b 

Scenario 2: Network of 3rd party expertise in a joint 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
authority spread 
between MS or 
further afield 

Option 3c 

Option 3d 

Option 4  A mix of 

Option 4 

different options 
to address the 
resource gaps at 
different levels 

support scheme, with organisms shared by several MS 

Scenario 3: Network of 3rd party expertise based on 
resource dependence using experts from the industry 

Scenario 4: Network of 3rd party expertise through 
self-selection in some technical forums on specific Oil 
& Gas related topics. 

Based on the specific resource needs per country group 
(1, 2 and 3) 

Note 

The Commission in accordance with Option 3 in the table, has contracted JRC to pilot a Virtual Centre of 
Offshore  Expertise  to  assist,  as  required  by  Member  States,  in  meeting  their  responsibilities  for  an 
adequately resourced Competent Authority. 

7