REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Directive 2013/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on recreational craft and personal watercraft and repealing Directive 94/25/EC
Date: 2023-05-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: EC conformity marking, European standard, harmonisation of standards, marketing standard, pleasure craft, powers of the institutions (EU), safety standard, technical specification, technical standard, transfer of competence

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 31.5.2023  COM(2023) 283 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Directive 2013/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on recreational craft and personal watercraft and repealing Directive 94/25/EC   
 
 
INTRODUCTION 

Directive 2013/53/EU1 lays down requirements on the design and manufacture of recreational 
craft and personal watercraft and rules on their free movement in the Union. Article 47 of the 
Directive empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts to amend:  

  points 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 of Section 2 as well as Section 3 of Part B and Section 3 of Part C 
of Annex I, dealing respectively with marine engines' testing cycles, the application of the 
engine's  family  and  choice  of  parent  engine,  test  fuels,  and  durability  of  engines 
concerning requirements on exhaust and noise emissions (Article 47(a)(i)), in order to take 
into account, the progress of technical knowledge and new scientific evidence;  

  Annexes  VII  and  IX  dealing  respectively  with  'conformity  of  production  assessment  for 
exhaust and noise emissions' and 'technical documentation' (Article 47(a)(ii)), in order to 
take into account, the progress of technical knowledge and new scientific evidence.  

  Annex V setting out requirements on 'Equivalent conformity based on Post-Construction 
Assessment'  (Article  47(b)),  in  order  to  take  into  account,  the  progress  of  technical 
knowledge, the adequacy of ensuring equivalent conformity and new scientific evidence. 

LEGAL BASIS 

This  report  is  required  under  Article  48(2)  of  Directive  2013/53/EU.  Pursuant  to  that 
provision, the power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission for a period of 
five years from 17 January 2014 and the Commission is required to prepare a report in respect 
of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. 
The delegation of the power was extended already once for five-year period until 17 January 
2024. 

EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

Since the entry into force of Directive 2013/53/EU, the Commission has not made use of the 
empowerment. No delegated act has been adopted yet. 

However,  the  reasons,  which  have  led  the  co-legislators  to  delegate  the  power  to  adopt 
delegated  acts  on  the  Commission,  are  still  valid  and  the  Commission  may  indeed  need  to 
make use of the empowerment in the future. For example, the Directive sets out the test cycles 
for  petrol  as  well  as  diesel  marine  engines,  however  it  does  not  encompass  a  test  cycle  for 
hybrid  marine  engine  technology.  This  is  a  novel  technology  in  marine  use  combining 
combustion engines with electrical propulsion. The Commission might therefore make use of 
the empowerment to introduce test cycles for hybrid marine engines. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission believes that despite of the fact that to date the Commission has not adopted 
any delegated act, the delegation of power as stated in Article 47 of the Directive 2013/53/EU 

1 Directive 2013/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on recreational 
craft and personal watercraft and repealing Directive 94/25/EC (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 90–131). 

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should be tacitly extended for a period of five years, in accordance with  Article 48(2) of the 
Directive.  

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report. 

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