REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Directive (EU) 2017/2397 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on the recognition of professional qualifications in inland navigation and repealing Council Directives 91/672/EEC and 96/50/EC
Date: 2024-05-28
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, crew, delegated legislation, inland waterway shipping, maritime safety, powers of the institutions (EU), professional qualifications, recognition of vocational training qualifications, ship's passport, transfer of competence

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 28.5.2024  COM(2024) 203 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Directive (EU) 2017/2397 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on the recognition of professional qualifications in inland navigation and repealing Council Directives 91/672/EEC and 96/50/EC    
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND THE COUNCIL 

on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Directive 
(EU) 2017/2397 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on 
the recognition of professional qualifications in inland navigation and repealing Council 
Directives 91/672/EEC and 96/50/EC 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

Directive  (EU)  2017/2397  introduces  for  the  first  time  a  harmonised  system  for  the 
certification and recognition of professional qualifications of persons operating craft on inland 
waterways,  allowing  certificate  holders  to  operate  throughout  the  EU  waterways.  The 
directive aims to remove barriers to labour mobility, to improve safety, to develop the skills 
and employability of young people, to offer better career prospects to all crew members  and 
to facilitate the transition of experienced workers from other sectors.  

The  system  applies  to  all deck  crew  members,  liquefied  natural  gas  experts and passenger 
navigation experts working on passenger vessels and other craft more than 20 metres in length 
(as  well  as  certain  other  specific  types  of  vessels),  except  where  navigation  is  for  sport  or 
leisure, or by the armed forces or emergency services. 

The directive provides the following provisions related to the specific crew members: 

•  Deck  crew  members,  persons  qualified  to  take  measures  in  emergency  situations  on 
board  passenger  vessels  and  persons  involved  in  refuelling  vessels  operating  on 
liquefied natural gas must have an EU certificate of qualification. 

•  Boat-masters must have specific authorisations when they: 

•  navigate on stretches of inland waterway with specific risks; 
•  navigate on inland waterways with a maritime character; 
•  navigate by radar; 
•  operate vessels powered by liquefied natural gas; 
• 

sail in large convoys. 

The  Directive  sets  out  minimum  requirements  for  age,  administrative  compliance, 
competence and navigation time for the different qualifications. It also requires all deck crew 
members to meet certain standards for medical fitness. 

The Directive takes account of the different characteristics of EU Member States  by granting 
exemptions  from  some  measures.  This  is  the  case  in  particular  for  Member  States  whose 
waterways are not connected to those of other Member States and where inland navigation is 
only seasonal or very limited. All other Member States with navigable inland waterways need 
to  take  the  necessary  measures  to  implement  the  certificate  recognition  system  set  by  the 
directive for these waterways.  

EU  certificates  of  qualification,  service  record  books  and  logbooks  issued  by  competent 
authorities are valid on all inland waterways in the EU. Certificates issued in accordance with 

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the  regulations  for  Rhine  navigation  personnel,  which  lay  down  requirements  that  are 
identical  to  those  of  the  directive,  are  also  valid  on  all  EU  waterways.  Any non-EU 
country may  apply  to  the European  Commission for  recognition  of  the  certificates,  service 
record books or logbooks issued by its authorities.  

Each Member State should ensure that persons receiving certificates of qualification have the 
corresponding minimum levels of competence by carrying out an assessment. This could be 
an administrative examination or part of an approved training programme. The possibility of 
examination on simulators is also included in the directive. 

The  Directive  sets  objective  and  transparent  criteria  for  Member  States  to  identify  inland 
waterways with specific risks and for the classification of inland waterways with a maritime 
character. 

The Directive provides for the setting up of an information system to facilitate the exchange 
of  data  on  certificates  of  qualification,  service  record  books  and  logbooks  between  the 
authorities  in  charge  of  the  implementation  and  enforcement  of  the  directive  (so-called  the 
Eureopan Crew database ‘ECDB’). 

The Directive was adopted on 12 December 2017 and entered into force on 16 January 2018, 
with the date of transposition and application of 17 January 2022. 

Article  17(1)  of  the  Directive  provides  that  the  Commission  shall  adopt  delegated  acts  in 
accordance  with  Article  31  to  supplement  the  Directive  by  laying  down  the  standards  for 
competences  and  corresponding  knowledge  and  skills  in  compliance  with  the  essential 
requirements set out in Annex II of the Directive. 

Article  21(2)  provides  that  the  Commission  is  empowered  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in 
accordance  with  Article  31  to  supplement  the  Directive  by  laying  down  standards  for  the 
approval of simulators, specifying the minimum functional and technical requirements and the 
administrative  procedures  in  this  regard,  with  the  objective  of  ensuring  that  the  simulators 
used  for  an  assessment  of  competences  are  designed  in  such  a  way  as  to  allow  for  the 
verification of the competences as prescribed under the standards for practical examinations 
referred to in Article 17(3). 

Article  23(6)  provides  that  the  Commission  is  empowered  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in 
accordance  with  Article  31  on  the  basis  of  the  essential  requirements  for  medical  fitness 
referred to in Annex III to supplement the Directive by laying down the standards for medical 
fitness that specify the requirements with regards to medical fitness, in particular with regard 
to the tests that medical practitioners must carry out, the criteria they must apply to determine 
fitness for work, and the list of restrictions and mitigation measures. 

Article  25(1)  provides  that  the  Commission  is  empowered  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in 
accordance with Article 31 in order to supplement the information in the registers for service 
record books  and logbooks with  other information  required by the models of service record 
books  and  logbooks  adopted  pursuant  to  Article  22(4),  with  the  objective  of  further 
facilitating the exchange of information between Member States. 

Article  31  empowers  the  Commission  to  adopt  delegated  acts  referred  to  in  the  above 
mentioned articles of the directive.  The article provides in its second paragraph: 

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‘The  power  to  adopt  delegated  acts  referred  to  in  Article  17(1)  and  (4),  Article  21(2), 
Article 23(6) and Article 25(1) and (2) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period 
of five years from 16 January 2018. The Commission shall draw up 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  power  shall  be  tacitly  extended  for  periods  of  an  identical  duration, 
unless  the  European  Parliament  or  the  Council  opposes  such  extension  not  later  than 
three months before the end of each period.’ 

2.  LEGAL BASIS 

The present Report is required by Article 31(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/2397. Pursuant to this 
provision, the delegation is conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from  16 
January  2018  and  the  Commission  is  required  to  make  a  report  in  respect  of  the  delegated 
powers.  The  same  Article  states  that  the  delegation  of  power  shall  be  tacitly  extended  for 
periods  of  identical  duration,  unless  the  European  Parliament  or  the  Council  opposes  such 
extension.  

3.  EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

From the entry into force of Directive (EU) 2017/2397 up until the date of the adoption of the 
present report, the Commission adopted the following delegated acts: 

1.  Commission  Delegated  Regulation 

January  2020 
supplementing  Directive  (EU)  2017/2397  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  with  regard  to  the  standards  for  databases  for  the  Union  certificates  of 
qualification, service record books and logbooks. 

(EU) 2020/473 of  20 

This  delegated  Regulation  sets  the  standards  laying  down  the  characteristics  and 
conditions for the use of databases of Union certificates of qualification, service record 
books  and  logbooks  issued  in  accordance  with  Directive  (EU)  2017/2397  and  for 
documents  recognised  pursuant  to  its  Article  10(2)-(3).  It  also  defines  access  rights, 
functionalities and communication between the Union database and national registers. 
The Union database on crew-related documents will provide a consolidated overview 
of the data  in the certificates of qualifications and on the service record books of the 
crew members that are kept in the national registers. 

2.  Commission  Delegated  Directive  (EU)  2020/12  of  2  August  2019  supplementing 
Directive (EU) 2017/2397  of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards 
the  standards  for  competences  and  corresponding  knowledge  and  skills,  for  the 
practical examinations, for the approval of simulators and for medical fitness  

This Delegated Directive supplements Directive (EU) 2017/2397 on certain standards 
relaged to professional qualifications in inland navigation. The standards were drawn 
up by the European Committee for Standardisation in Inland Navigation (CESNI). 

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The  standards  for  competences  include  the  required  specific  competences  and 
corresponding  knowledge  and  skills  that  are  in  compliance  with  the  essential 
competence requirements set out in the Directive. 

The Delegated Directive provides for standards for: 

•  Knowledge and skills 
•  Practical examinations 
•  Approval of simulators 
•  Medical fitness 

The standards have been adopted for:  

• 

• 
• 

the  operational  level  (defining  the  key  competence  for  boatmen  and  any  other 
qualification at operational level); 
the management level (boat-masters); 
the  specific  authorisation  for  a  boat-master  sailing  on  inland  waterways  with  a 
maritime character; 
the specific authorisation for a boat-master sailing with the aid of radar; 

• 
•  passenger navigation experts; 
• 
liquefied natural gas experts. 

For the operational  and management levels, the standards for competences cover  the 
following chapters: 

•  navigation; 
•  operation of craft; 
•  cargo handling, stowage and passenger transport; 
•  marine engineering and electrical, electronic and control engineering; 
•  maintenance and repair; 
•  communication; 
•  health, safety and environmental protection. 

All adopted delegated acts were transmitted to the European Parliament and the 
Council. There were no extension to the objection periods or objections during the 
provided objection periods. 

3.  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/184 of 22 November 2021 amending 
Annex IV to Directive (EU) 2017/2397 of the European Parliament and of the Council 

This  legislative  act  replaces  Annex  IV  of  Directive  (EU)  2017/2397  and  establishes 
the  applicable  requirements  regarding  practical  examinations  and  approval  of 
simulators.  It also establishes the essential competence requirements and the essential 
requirements  regarding  medical  fitness,  by  reference  to  European  Standards  for 
Qualifications in Inland Navigation (ES-QIN). 

4.  EXTENSION OF THE PERIOD FOR THE DELEGATION OF POWERS 

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The Commission has over the past 4 years exercised the delegated powers conferred to it 
under Directive (EU) 2017/2397. 

The  exercise  of  the  delegated  powers  enabled  the  Commission  to  adapt  the  relevant 
provisions of Directive (EU) 2017/2397 on standards for databases for the EU certificates 
of qualification, service record books and logbooks, as well as standards for competences 
and corresponding knowledge and skills, for the practical examinations, for the approval 
of simulators and for medical fitness. 

The Commission  considers that the delegation of power has  proved to  be necessary and 
will remain so. For this reason its extension seems appropriate.  

5.  CONCLUSION 

With  this  report  the  Commission  complies  with  the  reporting  requirement  under  Article 
31(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/2397 and invites the European Parliament and the Council 
to take note of this report. 

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