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 the new Regulation on the European Maritime Safety Agency and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002
Date: 2025-10-15
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: European Maritime Safety Agency, digitisation, marine pollution, maritime safety, operation of the Institutions, pollution from ships, prevention of pollution, sustainable mobility, transport accident

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 15.10.2025  COM(2025) 640 final 2023/0163 (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  the new Regulation on the European Maritime Safety Agency and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002  (Text with EEA relevance)  
 
2023/0163 (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  the new Regulation on the European 
Maritime Safety Agency and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2023) 269 final – 2023/0163 COD): 

1 June 2023 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

20 September 2023 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

12 March 2024 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

13 October 2025 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The  Regulation  on  the  European  Maritime  Safety  Agency  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC) 
1406/20021 is one of five legislative proposals adopted on 1 June 2023 by the Commission as 
an update of previous maritime safety packages. 

EMSA plays a key role in  enhancing  maritime safety  by supporting  the Member States and 
the Commission, while contributing to the green and digital transition of the EU’s maritime 
sector. It is therefore crucial to ensure that the Agency has the proper mandate and resources 
to continue its activities in the years to come.  

EMSA has taken over many new tasks since the last major amendment of its mandate in 2013. 
Yet, the wide majority of these are not properly reflected in its mandate. Most of these new 
tasks  stem  from  the  growing  importance  of  the  green  transition  and  decarbonisation  of  the 
sector,  where  the  EU  is  the  frontrunner  both  at  home  and  at  the  international  level. 
Furthermore, with the wide range of databases and IT tools developed over time, the Agency 
is  best  placed  to  support  the  much-needed  digitalisation  of  maritime  services,  as  well  as 
cybersecurity and surveillance.  

At  the  same  time,  EMSA’s  mandate  needs  to  be  future  proof.  It  needs  to  be  able  to 
accommodate the new tasks that will be entrusted to the Agency by upcoming EU legislation, 

1 

Regulation  (EC)  No  1406/2002  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  June  2002 
establishing a European Maritime Safety Agency, OJ L 208, 5.8.2002, pp. 1–9. 

EN 

1 

  EN 

 
 
 
 
such as the maritime package which includes new responsibilities for the Agency to support 
Member States in the areas of maritime safety and sustainability.  

As  a  result,  the  proposal  to  revise  the  EMSA’s  mandate  reflects  the  increased  role  that  the 
Agency plays already today and the one it is expected to play in the future. While detailed, the 
mandate should remain flexible, to ensure that EMSA can remain agile in responding to the 
needs  of  Member  States  and  the  Commission  –  to  both  support  the  implementation  of  new 
policy priorities and respond to crises. The increased role of EMSA implies additional human 
and financial resources for the Agency. 

Due  to  a  substantial  number  of  changes  to  the  tasks  of  the  Agency  and  its  internal 
organisation, the Commission proposed to replace Regulation (EC) 1406/2002 by a new act. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The  position  of  the  Council  fully  reflects  the  political  agreement  reached  by  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  Council  on  20  May  2025.  The  main  points  of  the  agreement  are  the 
following: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

2 
3 

With respect to the scope and tasks of the Agency, the overwhelming majority of the 
tasks  included  in  the  Commission  proposal  have  been  maintained,  with  some 
changes in wording, updates with regard to the final version of the recently adopted 
Maritime  Safety  Package,2  ship 
risk  assessment  on  pollution, 
decarbonisation  tasks,  maritime  surveillance  tasks  and  the  addition  of  new  tasks. 
However  the  technical  assistance  from  EMSA  to  the  Commission  or  the  Member 
States  relating  to  the  Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive3  and  nitrogen  oxides 
(NOx) was removed.  

recycling, 

As  regards  the  international  aspects  the  co-legislators  have  agreed  that  EMSA  can 
locate  staff  to  support  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States  at  the  International 
Maritime Organisation in London. The co-legislators eventually agreed to retain the 
reference  to  the  Agency’s  international  strategy  to  be  adopted  by  the  EMSA 
Management  Board  within  the  context  of  the  Agency’s  Single  Programming 
Document.  

On  governance  and  notwithstanding  the  Council’s  strong  position  to  decrease  the 
number  of  Commission  representatives  in    the  EMSA  Management  Board  the  co-
legislators agreed to maintain the four Commission representatives.  

The co-legislators agreed to delete the Executive Board as well as the Commission’s 
positive vote requirement on the draft Management Board decisions related to human 
resources and budgetary matters. This reduced the intended reinforced oversight role 
of the Commission and Member States over the Agency.  

However, the role of the Executive Board for EMSA is partially already played by an 
Advisory  Committee  to  the  Board  which  includes  two  representatives  of  the 
Commission  and  is  tasked  to  prepare  decisions  on  budgetary  and  human  resources 
matters.  Although  the  rejection  of  the  Executive  Board  may  have  negative  effects, 
the  current  role  and  composition  of  the  Advisory  Committee  will  serve  as  a 
mitigating factor. 

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_2919  
Directive  2008/56/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  17  June  2008 establishing  a 
framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy, OJ L 164, 25.6.2008, pp. 
19–40. 

EN 

2 

  EN 

 
• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

4 

5 

Furthermore, the co-legislators agreed during the trilogue on an alert mechanism that 
will  be  triggered  if  the  Commission  raises  serious  concerns  regarding  decision 
proposals  on  matters  related  to  the  Framework  Financial  Regulation4  and  the  Staff 
Regulations  and  the  Conditions  of  Employment  of  Other  Servants  of  the  European 
Union5.  However,  on  the  voting  rule,  the  co-legislators  disregarded  the  strong 
reservations expressed by the Commission and agreed to move from unanimity to a 
four-fifths  majority  vote  for  the  Management  Board  to  adopt  decisions  after  the 
triggering  of  the  alert  system  by  the  Commission.  This  will  weaken  the  deterrent 
effect  of  the  provision,  and  consequently,  reduce  the  Commission’s  capacity    to 
ensure compliance with Union law in human resources and budgetary matters. In this 
context,  the  Commission  has  issued  a  statement  calling  on  structured  coordination 
between the Agency and the Management Board and the Commission on draft Board 
decisions related to these matters. 

The co-legislators agreed to change the voting rules in the Management Board from 
an absolute to a two-thirds majority as regards the opinion on accounts, Management 
Board  rules,  agency  internal  structure,  arrangements  with  third  countries  and  the 
appointment,  removal  and  extension  of  the  Executive  Director.  In  addition,  the  co-
legislators agreed to reintroduce the current option for the Management Board to act 
on a proposal for removal of the Executive Director by not only the Commission, but 
also at least one-third of the voting members of the Management Board.  

As  regards  the  Executive  Director,  the  co-legislators  agreed  to  add  geographical 
balance  as  a  principle  to  be  respected  in  the  Commission  pre-selection  procedure. 
Furthermore,  they  agreed  that  before  the  appointment,  and  also  possibly  before  the 
extension of his/her term of office, the selected candidate or the Executive Director 
in  duty  will  be  invited  to  make  a  statement  to  the  competent  committee  of  the 
European Parliament and to answer questions posed by its members.  

The  co-legislators  agreed  that  as  regard  the  extension  of  the  Executive  Director’s 
term  of  office,  the  dual  assessment  (that  takes  into  account  an  evaluation  of  the 
Executive Director's performance and the Agency’s future tasks and challenges) is to 
be  transmitted  to  the  Management  Board  for  information,  together  with  the 
Commission  proposal  for  extension.    The  co-legislators  also  agreed  to  delete  the 
transitional  provision  on  the  extension  of  the  duration  of  the  term  of  office  of  the 
current Executive Director for one year. 

The co-legislators agreed to keep the possibility for the Agency to establish regional 
centres in the EU Member States, at the request of the Commission, in order to carry 
out some of the Agency’s tasks in a most efficient way.  

Finally,  the  co-legislators  agreed  to  remove  the  option  for  the  Agency  to  set  and 
collect fees at this point in time: any potential need to establish a fee scheme with the 
identification  of  the  services  that  could  be  financed  by  fees  will  be  assessed  in  the 

Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2019/715  of  18  December  2018  on  the  framework  financial 
regulation for the bodies set  up under the  TFEU  and Euratom Treaty and referred to in Article 70 of 
Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  2018/1046  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council,  OJ  L  122, 
10.5.2019, pp. 1–38. 
Regulation  (EEC,  Euratom,  ECSC)  No  259/68  of  the  Council  of  29  February  1968  laying  down  the 
Staff  Regulations  of  Officials  and  the  Conditions  of  Employment  of  Other  Servants  of  the  European 
Communities and instituting special measures temporarily applicable to officials of the Commission, OJ 
L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1 

EN 

3 

  EN 

 
periodic evaluation of the Agency no later than five years after the entry into force of 
the Regulation.  

4. 

CONCLUSION 

In  the  spirit  of  compromise  the  Commission  supports  the  results  of  the  interinstitutional 
negotiations and can therefore accept the Council’s position at first reading, thereby allowing 
the European Parliament to adopt the final text in second reading,  

5. 

DECLARATION FROM THE COMMISSION  

The Commission has made a unilateral declaration which can be found in the appendix.  

EN 

4 

  EN 

 
 
 
Commission  declaration  on  the  alert  system  on  human  resources  and  budget  matters 
(Article 20(2))   

Appendix 

“The  Commission  recalls  that  the  final  agreement  reached  by  the  co-legislators  on  the 
amended  proposal  for  a  Regulation  on  the  European  Maritime  Safety  Agency  (“EMSA”) 
introduces  changes  to  the  governance  in  comparison  with  the  Commission  proposal.  These 
changes  reduce  the  Commission’s  capacity  to  ensure  compliance  with  Union  law  in  human 
resources and budgetary matters.  

The shift from unanimity to a four-fifths majority in the second round of voting in article 20 
paragraph  2  weakens  the  effectiveness  of  the  Commission’s  safeguard  to  ensure  good 
administration  and  sound  financial  management.  This  introduces  the  risk  that  decisions 
contrary  to  the  applicable  Union  legal  framework  -  particularly  the  Framework  Financial 
Regulation and the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of 
the  European  Union  -  could  nonetheless  be  adopted,  despite  the  Commission’s  formal 
objection. This could also result in serious financial and reputational risks not only for EMSA 
but also for the Commission and the European Union as a whole. 

In this context, the Commission calls upon the Agency and its Management Board to engage 
in  early  and  structured  coordination  with  the  Commission  on  all  draft  decisions  to  be 
submitted for adoption.” 

EN 

5 

  EN