COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the Position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels, amending Directive 2009/100/EC and repealing Directive 2006/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
Date: 2016-06-21
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, inland waterway fleet, inland waterway shipping, maritime safety, network of navigable waterways, ship's passport, technical specification, technical standard

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 21.6.2016  COM(2016) 429 final 2013/0302 (COD)   COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the Position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels, amending Directive 2009/100/EC and repealing Directive 2006/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council  
 
 
2013/0302 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

Position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of 
the Council laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels, amending 
Directive 2009/100/EC and repealing Directive 2006/87/EC of the European Parliament 
and of the Council 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date on which the proposal was sent to the European Parliament 
and the Council - 10.9.2013 (document COM(2013)622 final – 
2013/0302 COD). 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee - 21.1.2014. 

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions - 31.1.2014  

Date  of  the  position  of  the  European  Parliament,  first  reading  - 
15.4.2014. 

Date on which the Council adopted its position - 13.5.2016. 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

Directive  2006/87/EC  lays  down  technical  requirements  for  vessels  operating  on  the  EU's 
inland waterway network. In addition, the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine 
(CCNR)  has  laid  down  technical  requirements  for  vessels  navigating  on  the  Rhine  in  the 
Revised  Convention  for  Rhine  Navigation.  Directive  2006/87/EC  is  designed  to  ensure  safe 
navigation  under  conditions  equivalent  to  those  covered  by  the  Rhine  rules.  The  Directive 
also aims to ensure that Union inland navigation certificates attesting that all types of craft are 
fully compliant with technical requirements are valid on all EU inland waterways, including 
the  Rhine,  and  that  Rhine  certificates  are  valid  on  all  EU  inland  waterways.  In  general,  the 
technical requirements in the annexes to the Directive incorporate the standards laid down in 
the Rhine Vessels Inspection Regulations. 

However,  it  is  difficult  to  ensure  consistency  between  the  two  legal  regimes,  as  each  is 
governed by its own rules and procedures. In the interests of maintaining legal certainty and 
achieving a level playing field, progress towards a single, uniform set of technical standards is 
needed. 

The main reasons for revising the Directive are to streamline decision-making on the adoption 
of technical standards for inland waterway vessels, and to standardise technical standards for 
both the EU and the CCNR regimes.  

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To achieve these objectives, in June 2015 the CCNR set up an international body to draw up 
uniform technical standards for inland waterway vessels, the CESNI (Comité européen pour 
les  standards  dans  le  domaine  de  la  navigation  intérieure).  It  adopted  its  first  technical 
standard for inland waterway vessels in November 2015, thus enabling reference to be made 
to that standard in the Directive before its final adoption and publication. 

Subsequent versions of the CESNI technical standard will be referred to in EU legislation by 
means of delegated acts.  

3. 

Comments on the Council position 

Most of the Council's amendments are designed to improve clarity and the implementation of 
the Directive. They are based on a decade of experience of its application.  

The main changes in the Council position are: 

 

 

 

 

 

The articles have been reorganised into thematic chapters, thereby improving clarity. 
At  the  Commission's  request,  the  Council  has  agreed  not  to  change  the  technical 
requirements  in  the  annexes  in  such  a  way  that  they  refer  to  the  CESNI  standard 
adopted in the course of the discussions held in the Council in November 2015 (see 
above).  The  Council  has  transferred  some  further  detailed  procedural  issues  from 
Annex II to the main body of the Directive, in addition to those already transferred in 
the Commission's proposal.   

The  Council  has  taken  the  opportunity  to  update  the  classification  of  inland 
waterways in Annex I. Sweden has inserted its classification, thus bringing its inland 
waterways within the scope of the Directive.  

The  Council  has  also  modified  Article  30,  listing  the  Member  States  that  are 
excluded from the scope of the Directive because they have no inland waterways or 
because inland navigation is not used to a significant extent. The others are covered 
by the Directive.  

The  provisions  on  data  protection  in  relation  to  the  European  Hull  Database  have 
been  tightened  up,  in  line  with  the  opinion  of  the  European  Supervisor  for  Data 
Protection (EDPS), who was consulted by the Commission at the Council's request. 
The  Directive  now  includes  some  essential  material  on  the  processing  of  personal 
data (the categories of data processed, the reasons for such processing, the recipients 
of the data, and the period for which it is retained). Moreover, the Commission has 
been empowered to adopt rules on the functioning of the database by delegated acts. 

The minor legal discrepancy with Directive 2009/100/EC, resulting in an overlap in 
the scope of application, has been removed by amending Directive 2009/100/EC.  

4. 

CONCLUSION 

Overall,  the  form  of  the  text  has  changed  considerably,  while  the  substance  of  the  original 
Commission  proposal  on  navigation  safety  has  been  preserved.  The  Commission  welcomes 
these improvements.  

The Commission can endorse the position adopted by the Council, thus enabling the European 
Parliament to adopt the final text at second reading. 

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