COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Implementation Plan Accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/45/EC on safety rules and standards for passenger ships Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council 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 and amending Directive 2010/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a system of inspections for the safe operation of ro-ro ferry and high-speed passenger craft in regular service and amending Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on port State control and repealing Council Directive 1999/35/EC
Date: 2016-06-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: carriage of passengers, data collection, exchange of information, high-speed transport, maritime safety, personal data, ports policy, safety standard, ship's passport, vessel

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 6.6.2016  SWD(2016) 189 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Implementation Plan Accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/45/EC on safety rules and standards for passenger ships  Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council 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 and amending Directive 2010/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States  Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a system of inspections for the safe operation of ro-ro ferry and high-speed passenger craft in regular service and amending Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on port State control and repealing Council Directive 1999/35/EC   {COM(2016) 369 final} {COM(2016) 370 final} {COM(2016) 371 final} {SWD(2016) 190 final}  
 
 
Implementation Plan1 

1. Contact point 

The responsible Commission service is Unit D.2 – Maritime safety – in DG MOVE. 

Mailbox: PASSENGER-SHIP-SAFETY@ec.europa.eu  

Website: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/maritime/safety/passenger_ships_en.htm 

2. Deliverables and implementation challenges 

An overarching objective of this review is to provide for a clear, simple and up-to-date legal 
framework that is easier to implement, monitor and enforce, increasing thus the overall safety 
level.  The  review  includes  a  number  of  clarification  provisions  that  will  necessitate 
adjustments  in  Member  States  with  diverging  interpretations.  It  also  provides  for  new 
procedures that will in certain cases require both Member States and companies to adjust their 
current processes. 

Member  States  should  incorporate  all  amendments  into  their  legislation  and  pay  particular 
attention to the fact that Directive 1999/35/EC is replaced by a new Directive. The following 
implementation challenges have been identified in concrete terms: 

2.1 

Amendments to Directive 2009/45/EC 

a.  Offshore service vessels 

These vessels should fall outside the scope of the Directive. Therefore, the 2 offshore 
service vessels that have been reported as certified under the Directive by DK would 
need to be re-certified. This should take place within the regular certification cycle. 

b.  Traditional and sailing ships 

These  vessels  should  fall  outside  the  scope  of  the  Directive.  The  existing  45-50  rig-
sailing ships (primarily registered in NL) certified under the Directive would therefore 
need to be re-certified according to the national applicable standards. This should take 
place within the regular certification cycle. 

c.  Aluminium built ships 

These  vessels  should  fall  in  the  scope  of  the  Directive.  Currently,  ca.  100  of  these 
vessels sailing in  France and  Italy have not been certified according to the Directive 
and  should  be  re-certified  accordingly.  The  corresponding  technical  standards 
included  in  the  Annex  should  be  clarified  in  cooperation  with  national  experts  and 

1 This Implementation Plan is provided for information purposes only. It does not legally bind the Commission 

on whether the identified actions will be pursued or on the form in which they will be pursued. 

2 

 
 
 
 
                                                           
adopted  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  adoption  of  the  amended  Directive  by  the 
Legislators. 

The costs of retro-fitting these vessels with adequate fire insulation such that they will 
comply  with  the  Directive's  safety  standard  would  depend  on  the  case  by  case  basis 
and will be determined by the residual value at the ship in the moment of retro-fitting. 
Some of these vessels are likely to be phased out because of their normal life cycle. In 
any case, a sufficient transition period should be envisaged to smooth the adjustment 
to the maximum extent possible and to plan the technical updates, if any.  

d.  Simplification of sea areas 

7  Member  States  reported  that  the  proposed  simplification  would  entail  a  need  to 
modify their current definition of sea areas (NL, DE, PL, PT, SE, UK and one MS).  

e.  Notifications of exemptions, equivalencies and additional measures 

To  minimise  cost  implications  for  Member  States,  an  existing  platform  such  as 
CIRCA  should  be  used  as  a  database  containing  the  notifications,  additional 
information, Commission decisions and the final adopted measures. Access rights will 
however have to be developed together with Member States' experts. 

f.  Small ships 

Small  ships  built  from  steel  or  equivalent  material  would  no  longer  fall  under  the 
scope of the Directive. The ca. 70 small ships currently certified under the Directive 
should  be  therefore  re-certified  in  the  standard  cycle  and  for  the  newly  built  ones, 
national legislation would apply. 

2.2 

Amendments to Directive 98/41/EC 

a.  Clarification of the scope of application 

It should be clarified that Directive 98/41/EC applies only until the inner border of sea 
area  D.  This  would  not  impact  on  Member  States'  own  definitions  of  sea  area 
boundaries  and  it  would  remain  within  the  discretion  of  Member  States  to  decide 
where  sea  area  D  should  end  (i.e.  on  its  inner  border)  and  where  other  areas  should 
start (and how they should be demarcated), such as ports, estuaries or similar sheltered 
areas,  inland  waterways  etc.  Nonetheless,  the  common  map  of  sea  areas  should  be 
clarified with Member States. 

b.  Short voyages: Information on number of persons on board  

Information on the number of persons should be recorded by operators to the National 
Single  Window  or  made  available  by  means  of  Automatic  Identification  System 
(AIS).  Whether  this  will  have  impact  on  companies'  processes  would  depend  on  a 
case-by-case basis, determined by their individual use of IT. In this context, it should 
be left to the national administration to assess whether AIS exemptions granted under 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
different  legal  and  market  situations  remain  justified.  Without  prejudice  to  the  full 
implementation  of  National  Single  Window  by  Member  States,  the  operational 
decision  on  the  interface  between  the  National  Single  Window  and  the  operators 
should be taken at national level. 

c.  Long voyages: Passenger and crew lists 

Information on passengers and crew should be transmitted by operators to the National 
Single  Window.  In  principle,  recording  the  lists  to  National  Single  Window  is  a 
similar action to recording them in the registration system of the company (i.e. as long 
as they are in an electronic format). Depending on a case-by-case basis, recording the 
lists in National Single Window may, in addition to the company's operation system, 
require  an  internet  connection.  Without  prejudice  to  the  full  implementation  of 
National Single Window by Member States, the operational decision on the interface 
between  the  National  Single  Window  and  the  operators  should  be  taken  at  national 
level.  

d.  Nationality 

Information  on  nationality  should  be  added  to  the  already  collected  information 
(name, date of birth, etc.), for passengers on a basis of self-declaration as it is currently 
the  case.  Only  minor  adjustments  are  expected  both  for  the  companies  and  Member 
States in this respect. 

e.  Verification 

Member States should verify the accuracy and timeliness of data registration required 
by this Directive. The choice of means  and frequency of such verification should be 
decided by Member States, similarly to the currently required random checks. 

2.3 

New  Directive  replacing  Directive  1999/35/EC  and  amendments  to  Directive 
2009/16/EC on port State control 

a.  Vessels outside the scope of port State control 

These vessels should remain in the scope of the new Directive. Therefore the changes 
relate primarily to a number of clarified or updated provisions of the new Directive.  

More specifically, the new Directive provides for an explicit provision that the specific 
ro-pax  inspection  may,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Member  State,  be  carried  out  at  the 
same  time  as  or  in  conjunction  with  the  annual  flag  State  survey.  On  average,  this 
would reduce the inspection burden from the ship perspective from 3 to 2 inspections 
per year. Simplification for national authorities would be determined on the case-by-
case basis, depending on by whom, when and how the inspection is carried out. 

b.  For vessels subject to port State control 

These  current  inspection  requirements  for  these  vessels  should  be  transferred  into 
Directive  2009/16/EC  on  port  State  control.  On  average,  this  would  reduce  the 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
inspection  burden  from  the  ship  perspective  from  4  to  3  inspections  per  year.  For 
national  administrations,  the  reduction  should  be  even  more  substantial,  given  that 
according to the current requirements, every ro-pax inspection should be in principle 
carried out jointly by 2 (or more) host States. 

From an operational perspective, the only change in comparison to status quo would 
be for ships that are currently flagged in one of the host States. For those vessels, the 
ro-pax  inspections  are  on  occasion  being  combined  with  the  flag  State  survey.  In 
reality, the share of such vessels in  this  group can range between 10-50  percent and 
change from year to year due to flag changes. This inspection burden should be more 
explicitly attributed between the flag and port States and in any case decrease overall 
compared to status quo.  

c.  Regularity of inspections 

It should be ensured that two annual ro-pax inspections are carried out with a certain 
time lag, i.e. 5-6 months.  Therefore, those Member States where  this  is  not  the case 
(BE,  BG,  MT,  PT  and  EL)  and  Norway,  would  need  to  adjust  their  inspection 
planning accordingly.  

d.  Content of survey during a regular service 

The proposed clarification on the content of the 'in service' inspection may necessitate 
revisiting the inspection 'checklist' in those Member States where the requirements of 
current Annex IV are not checked in their entirety. 

3.  Envisaged support actions 

3.1 

At EU level 

 

It is envisaged to make an extensive use of the existing Passenger Ship Safety Expert 
Group (PSS EG) in order to develop the implementation measures and to facilitate the 
transposition  process.  The  corresponding  expert  groups  dealing  with  the  port  State 
control inspections and the National Single Window implementation would be equally 
exploited. 

  The Passenger Ship Safety Expert Group would be enlarged to stakeholders who could 

participate as observers and prepare for the forthcoming legal changes.  

  A number of specific workshops and correspondence groups would be organised with 
the assistance of EMSA to further develop the issues of the more technical nature and 
to provide any technical assistance that may be needed during the transposition period. 
  On  request  of  Member  States,  a  number  of  visits  could  be  carried  out  by  EMSA  to 
detect any transposition difficulties and to provide technical assistance where needed.  
  Existing  training  modules  should  be  revised  and  continue  to  be  provided  with  the 

assistance of EMSA. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.2 

At national level 

  Member  States  should  ensure  participation  of  their  national  experts  at  the  Passenger 

Ship Safety Expert Group, workshops and trainings as relevant. 

  They  should  inform  the  Commission  about  any  potential  problems  related  to 

implementation as soon as they are identified. 

  Member  States  should  share  information  related  to  implementation  and  monitoring 

indicators when requested by the Commission and EMSA. 

  Member States shall ensure the coordination between and raise awareness among the 
relevant  competent  authorities,  economic  actors  such  as  shipyards,  shipowners  and 
operators, as well as passenger associations. 

6 

 
 
 
 
3.3 

Timeline 

Implementation 
challenge 

Support action 

Timing 

BEFORE THE EXPIRY OF THE TRANSPOSITION DEADLINE 

Amendments to Directive 2009/45/EC 

Re-certification  of  ships 
that  should  fall  outside 
the scope of the Directive 

Re-certification  of  ships 
that  should  fall  in  the 
scope of the Directive 

Member States should inform the 
Commission  about  any  potential 
problems  as  soon  as  they  are 
identified  and 
they  may  be 
discussed in the PSS EG 

the  re-certification  of 
Should 
aluminium 
be 
built 
necessary, this should be carried 
out  the  basis  of  the  clarified 
technical requirements 

ships 

Throughout  the  transposition 
period.  PSS  EG  is  envisaged 
to 
in  regular 
take  place 
intervals, 2-3 per year 

into 

adopted 

technical 
Corresponding 
requirements 
as 
soon  as  possible  after  the 
entry 
the 
amending  Directive.  Re-
be 
certification 
carried 
the 
transposition period 

should 
out  within 

force  of 

Sea areas re-definition 

Notification database 

Preparatory  work  for  the 
implementation 

Where  sea  areas  need  to  be 
redefined,  Member  States  would 
be  on  their  request  assisted  by 
the  Commission  and  EMSA.  The 
issue  would  be  brought  to  the 
PSS EG 

Throughout  the  transposition 
period.  PSS  EG  is  envisaged 
in  regular 
take  place 
to 
intervals, 2-3 per year 

To define the access rights at 
the  time  of  the  entry  into 
amending 
the 
of 
force 
Directive 

Throughout  the  transposition 
period 

database 

shall 
by 

be 
The 
identified/developed 
the 
Commission  and  access  rights 
defined  with  national  experts. 
PSS  EG  should  be  used  for  this 
purpose 

looking 

EMSA  fact  finding  missions  to 
Member  States 
into, 
issues, 
other 
amongst 
interpretations  of  the  detailed 
technical  requirements.  These 
could  also  serve  the  purpose  of 
transposition 
detecting 

any 

7 

 
 
 
difficulties 
technical 
needed 

and 
assistance 

providing 
where 

Amendments to Directive 98/41/EC 

Definition of port areas in 
the  context  of  Directive 
98/41/EC  and  Directive 
2009/45/EC 

Review  to  be  carried  out  in  the 
framework  of  the  PSS  EG  or,  if 
needed, specific workshop can be 
dedicated to this issue 

Within  the  first  12  months 
after  the  entry  into  force  of 
the amending Directive 

Throughout  the  transposition 
period. 
groups 
Expert 
meetings  at  regular  intervals 
2-3 per year 

Throughout  the  transposition 
period. 
groups 
Expert 
meetings  at  regular  intervals 
2-3 per year 

recorded 

Number  of  persons  on 
board 
in 
National  Single  Window 
or  made  available  by 
using AIS system 

Passenger  and  crew  lists 
recorded 
in  National 
Single  Window,  including 
information 
on 
nationality 

Expert  groups  supporting 
the 
development  of  National  Single 
specific  workshops 
Window, 
as 
organised 
be 
should 
necessary. Coordination with the 
PSS  EG  should  be  ensured. 
Member  States  shall  ensure  the 
coordination  between  and  raise 
awareness  among  the  relevant 
competent  authorities,  economic 
actors 
shipyards, 
shipowners  and  operators,  as 
well as passenger associations 

such 

as 

Expert  groups  supporting 
the 
development  of  National  Single 
specific  workshops 
Window, 
should 
as 
organised 
be 
necessary. Coordination with the 
PSS  EG  should  be  ensured. 
Member  States  shall  ensure  the 
coordination  between  and  raise 
awareness  among  the  relevant 
competent  authorities,  economic 
actors 
shipyards, 
shipowners  and  operators,  as 
well as passenger associations 

such 

as 

Verification 

ensure 

common 
To 
interpretation,  guidance  should 
be developed with the assistance 
of PSS EG 

Throughout  the  transposition 
period.  PSS  EG  is  envisaged 
to 
in  regular 
take  place 
intervals, 2-3 per year 

8 

 
 
New Directive replacing Directive 1999/35/EC 

Ro-pax inspection may be 
carried  out  at  same  time 
or 
in  conjunction  with 
flag State survey 

Member States authorities would 
work  with  shipowners  and  with 
Recognised  Organisations 
to 
facilitate this  

Throughout  the  transposition 
period 

A  period  of  time  between 
inspections to  ensure that 
these 
place 
take 
throughout  the year to  be 
introduced 

In service inspection 

Operational issues 

EMSA would  work with Member 
States'  authorities  using 
the 
inspection database – also taking 
account of seasonal services  

Throughout  the  transposition 
period 

Throughout  the  transposition 
period 

be 

Inspection 

Member  States  should  ensure 
is 
the  clarified  content 
that 
applied. 
checklist 
should 
revisited  where 
needed.  They  should  inform  the 
Commission  about  any  potential 
problems 
to 
implementation  as  soon  as  they 
are 
Further 
discussions  should  take  place  in 
the framework of the PSS EG 

identified. 

related 

Amendments to Directive 2009/16/EC 

to  work  with 
COM/EMSA 
national  experts  on  operational 
issues 
the 
envisaged regularity and content 
of inspections 

to  provide 

for 

Throughout  the  transposition 
period 

AFTER THE EXPIRY OF THE TRANSPOSITION DEADLINE 

Amendments to Directive 2009/45/EC 

Monitoring 
implementation 
enforcement, evaluation 

of 
and 

related 

Member  States  should  share 
information 
to 
implementation  and  monitoring 
indicators when requested by the 
Commission  and  EMSA.  EMSA 
to  carry  out 
implementation 
visits.  Existing  training  modules 
should  be  revised  and  continue 

9 

and 

basis 

Visits should take place on an 
annual 
the 
monitoring  in  time  for  the 
evaluation  of  the  amending 
Directive  to  be  completed  in 
time 

 
 
be 

to 
assistance of EMSA 

provided  with 

the 

Interpretation  issues  may 
be 
the 
technical annex 

arising 

for 

Consultation  with  PSS  EG  to 
ensure uniform application of the 
technical requirements  

The  matter  can  be  dealt 
within  the  normal  PSS  EG 
meetings cycle 

Amendments to Directive 98/41/EC 

Monitoring 
implementation 
enforcement, evaluation 

of 
and 

related 

Member  States  should  share 
to 
information 
implementation  and  monitoring 
indicators when requested by the 
Commission  and  EMSA.  EMSA 
implementation 
to  carry  out 
visits.  Existing  training  modules 
should  be  revised  and  continue 
the 
to 
assistance of EMSA 

provided  with 

be 

and 

basis 

Visits should take place on an 
the 
annual 
monitoring  in  time  for  the 
evaluation  of  the  amending 
Directive  to  be  completed  in 
time 

Detected  early  problems 
in  the  use  of  electronic 
tools  for  data  recording 
by the operators 

implementation 
EMSA  regular 
cycle  can  be  timely  planned  to 
address these issues. PSS experts 
discuss 
should 
group 
implementation  issues  to  ensure 
uniform  application  of 
the 
requirements 

Regular  cycle  of  EMSA 
implementation  visits  and 
PSS  EG  regular  meeting 
cycle (i.e. 2-3 per year) 

New Directive replacing Directive 1999/35/EC 

Monitoring 
implementation 
enforcement, evaluation 

of 
and 

related 

Member  States  should  share 
information 
to 
implementation  and  monitoring 
indicators when requested by the 
Commission  and  EMSA.  EMSA 
to  carry  out 
implementation 
visits.  Existing  training  modules 
should  be  revised  and  continue 
to 
the 
assistance of EMSA 

provided  with 

be 

and 

basis 

Visits should take place on an 
annual 
the 
monitoring  in  time  for  the 
new 
of 
evaluation 
Directive  to  be  completed  in 
time 

the 

Issues  of  implementation 
and interpretations 

Regular  expert  group  meetings, 
dedicated 
with 
national  authorities  may  be 
organised  when  needed  to  work 

workshops 

In  regular 
intervals  when 
needed,  in  coordination  with 
the PSS EG timetable 

10 

 
 
to  harmonise  implementation  of 
the ro-pax inspections   

Amendments to Directive 2009/16/EC 

Monitoring 
implementation 
enforcement, evaluation 

of 
and 

related 

Member  States  should  share 
information 
to 
implementation  and  monitoring 
indicators when requested by the 
Commission  and  EMSA.  EMSA 
implementation 
to  carry  out 
visits.  Existing  training  modules 
should  be  revised  and  continue 
the 
to 
assistance of EMSA 

provided  with 

be 

and 

basis 

Visits should take place on an 
annual 
the 
monitoring  in  time  for  the 
evaluation  of  the  amending 
Directive  to  be  completed  in 
time 

Issues  of  implementation 
and interpretations 

workshops 

Regular  expert  group  meetings, 
with 
dedicated 
national  authorities  may  be 
organised  when  needed  to  work 
to  harmonise  implementation  of 
the ro-pax inspections   

In  regular 
intervals  when 
needed,  in  coordination  with 
the PSS EG timetable 

11