PURPOSE: to simplify and streamline the existing EU regulatory framework for the inspection of ro-ro and high-speed passenger ships.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Directive (EU) 2017/2110 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a system of inspections for the safe operation of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft in regular service and amending Directive 2009/16/EC and repealing Council Directive 1999/35/EC.

CONTENT: in the light of the quality assessment of the existing legislation on passenger safety carried out by the Commission, this Directive replaces Directive 1999/35/EC with a view to updating, clarifying and simplifying the existing requirements on ro-ro ferry and high-speed passenger craft while maintaining the same level of safety and the key mechanisms.

Scope : this Directive applies to ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft operating on a regular service between a port of a Member State and a port of a third country where the flag of the vessel is the same as that of the Member State in question.

To further reduce the inspection effort and to maximise the time in which the ship or craft can be commercially exploited, whilst continuing to ensure high safety standards, vessels subject to port State control inspections shall therefore be transferred so that they fall within the scope of Directive 2009/16/EC .

Pre-commencement inspections : the Member States shall carry out a pre-commencement inspection of ro-ro passenger ships or high-speed passenger craft before they are put into operation on a regular service . The vessel shall undergo an inspection in accordance with Annex II of the Directive and a number of safety management issues as set out in Annex I shall also be checked.

Before a ro-ro passenger ship or high-speed passenger craft starts to operate on a regular service covered by this Directive, the competent authorities of the Member States shall carry out a pre-commencement inspection.

In the case of pre-commencement inspections, a Member State may decide not to apply certain requirements or procedures in Annexes I and II relevant to any annual flag State survey or inspection carried out within the previous 6 months, provided that relevant procedures designed to achieve the same goal have been followed.

Regular inspections : Member States shall once in every 12-month period, carry out:

an inspection, in accordance with Annex II; a second inspection during a regular service , taking place not before 4 months but not later than 8 months after the first inspection.

Member States, if they so wish, shall have the opportunity to combine the inspection with a flag State visit to which a vessel shall be required to carry out once a year.

Member States shall carry out an inspection in accordance with Annex II each time the ro-ro passenger ship or high-speed passenger craft undergoes repairs, alterations and modifications of a major character, or when there is a change of management, or a transfer of class.

On the completion of any inspection, the inspector shall draw up a report . A copy shall be given to the master. Where the flag of the vessel is that of a Member State, the port State shall, upon request, invite a representative of the flag State to accompany the inspection as an observer .

Rectification of anomalies : Member States should ensure that any deficiencies confirmed or revealed by an inspection are rectified. Where the deficiencies are clearly hazardous to health or safety or pose an immediate danger to health or life, the ro-ro passenger ship or high-speed passenger craft, its crew and passengers, the competent authority of the Member State shall ensure that the ro-ro passenger ship or high-speed passenger craft is subject to an order prohibiting its departure . The prohibition of departure order shall not be lifted until the deficiency has been rectified and the hazard has been removed and all danger has been averted.

Costs : the Directive provides that where the inspections confirm or reveal deficiencies warranting a prohibition of departure order, all costs relating to the inspections shall be covered by the company .

Inspection database : the Commission shall manage an inspection database to which all Member States shall be connected. This database shall be based on the inspection database referred to in Directive 2009/16/EC and have similar functionalities to that database.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 20.12.2017.

TRANSPOSITION: no later than 21.12.2019. The measures of the Directive shall apply from the same date.

DELEGATED ACTS: the Commission may adopt delegated acts in respect of the non-application, for the purposes of this Directive, of amendments to the international instruments, if necessary, and the updating of technical specifications.

The power to adopt such acts is conferred on the Commission for a period of seven years (renewable) from 20 December 2017. The European Parliament or the Council shall have the right to oppose a delegated act within a period of two months (extendable two months) from the notification of the act.

The European Parliament adopted by 661 votes to 11, with 17 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the 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.

The European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:

Scope : the Directive seeks to ensure the safe operation of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft in regular service . It shall not apply to ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft which are covered by the port State control Directive 2009/16/EC .

Pre-commencement inspections : the competent authorities of the Member States shall carry out a pre-commencement inspection of ro-ro passenger ships or high-speed passenger craft before they are put into operation on a regular service.

In the case of pre-commencement inspections, a Member State may decide not to apply certain requirements or procedures in Annexes I and II relevant to any annual flag State survey or inspection carried out within the previous six months, provided that relevant procedures designed to achieve the same goal have been followed.

Regular inspections : in view of their specific risk profile, ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft shall be regularly inspected as a matter of priority .

Member States shall carry out, once every twelve-month period:

an inspection, in accordance with the procedures described in Annex II; a second inspection during a regular service, taking place not before four months but not later than eight months after the first inspection.

During an inspection, the inspector of the competent authority of the port State may agree to accompany a port State inspector from another Member State as an observer.

Any inspection of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft falling within the scope of Directive 2009/16/EC shall be included in the total number of annual inspections carried out by each Member State. When inspections are carried out under Directive 2009/16/EC, all possible efforts should be made to avoid a ship being unduly detained or delayed.

Transfer : in a new Annex it is specified that when a ro-ro passenger ship or high-speed passenger craft is to be engaged on a regular service, the Member State concerned may take into account inspections carried out within the last eight months by another Member State in respect of that ro-ro passenger ship or high-speed passenger craft for operations on another regular service covered by this Directive.

In each case the Member State shall take the view that these previous inspections are relevant to the new operating conditions and that during those inspections the requirements for safe operation were met.

Costs : the text provides that where the inspections confirm or reveal deficiencies hazardous to health or safety and warranting a prohibition of departure order, all costs relating to the inspections shall be covered by the company.

Inspection database : all Member States shall be connected. This database will be based on the inspection database referred to in Article 24 of Directive 2009/16/EC and shall have similar functionalities to that database.

A new recital stressed the need to take into account the on-board working and living conditions of the crew and the training and qualifications of its members, given that health, safety and social considerations are closely intertwined.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the report by Dominique RIQUET (ADLE, FR) on the 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.

The committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading, following the ordinary legislative procedure, should amend the Commission proposal as follows:

Clarification between the scope of the Directive and Directive 2009/16/EC : Members pointed out that for ships flying the flag of a Member State providing regular ro-ro ferry and high-speed passenger craft services between a Member State and a non-Member State , Directive 2009/16/EC (port State control) is to apply if the flag being flown is not the same as the flag of the Member State in question

Definitions : Members defined the competent authority of the Member State as the authority appointed by the Member State under this Directive and responsible for carrying out the tasks assigned to it by this Directive.

Exceptions to the requirement for pre-commencement inspections : in the case of pre-commencement inspections, a Member State may dispense with certain requirements or procedures that are laid down or set out in Annexes I and II and that are relevant to an annual flag State survey or inspection carried out, within the previous six months, with respect to procedures designed to achieve the same goal.

Regular inspections : Member States should carry out every twelve-month period:

an inspection in accordance with Annex II; a second inspection during a regular service, which shall not be carried out earlier than four months or later than eight months after the first inspection.

Members proposed deleting from the proposal the exemption from inspections of regular services as proposed by the European Commission (in the event of a change of management or in the case of transfer of class of ro-ro ferry or high-speed passenger craft).

The inspector of the competent authority of the port State may agree, during an inspection of a ro-ro passenger ship or high-speed passenger craft, to be accompanied by a port State control inspector of another Member State , who shall act in the capacity of an observer.

When inspection is exercised, all possible efforts shall be made to avoid a ship being unduly detained or delayed.

Given their high and specific risk profile, ro-ro ferries and high-speed passenger craft should be systematically considered to be high-risk vessels and should therefore be inspected as a matter of priority.

Costs : as regards the costs incurred in the detention of a vessel, Members suggested clarifying the text by specifying that the system of possible extra charges for the port shall be governed by the contractual relationship between the operator and the port.

Inspection database : information related to inspections, including on deficiencies and prohibition of departure orders, should be transferred to the inspection database within 24 hours of the inspection report being completed or of the prohibition of departure order being lifted.

Delegated acts : Members proposed that the power to adopt delegated acts be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years (renewable) from the date of entry into force of this Directive. The European Maritime Safety Agency should conduct and present a study on the actual consequences of the application of this Directive.

PURPOSE: to simplify and streamline the existing EU passenger ship safety regulatory framework (inspections for the safe operation of ro-ro ferry and high-speed passenger craft (HSC) in regular service).

PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: Council Directive 1999/35/EC provides for a number of types of inspection addressing particular safety characteristics of ro-ro ferries and high-speed craft (HSC). Notwithstanding the fact that the special inspection regime for these vessels remains necessary, the requirements of this Directive no longer match the realities .

Since then, the port State control regime has been strengthened, especially after Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council came into force, establishing a risk-based inspection regime and including a minimum number of inspections on high risk ships that Member States must carry out.

Today, the vast majority of Member States combine or replace some of the inspections required under Directive 1999/35/EC with either flag State surveys or port State control inspections. This practice renders the implementation and enforcement of this Directive problematic, given the different scope of these inspections and regulatory overlaps .

In the spirit of the Commission's REFIT and Better Regulation agenda and as an immediate follow-up to the fitness check on EU passenger ship safety legislation, the Commission considers that the existing EU passenger ship safety regulatory framework should be simplified and streamlined in order to (i) maintain EU rules where necessary and proportionate; (ii) ensure their correct implementation; and (iii) eliminate potential overlap of obligations and inconsistencies between related pieces of legislation.

The proposal is fully consistent with the simplification proposals amending Directive

2009/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 98/41/EC

CONTENT: the Commission proposes to replace Directive 1999/35/EC in order to update, clarify and simplify the existing survey requirements for roro ferries and HSC while maintaining the same level of safety and key delivery mechanisms.

The main points of the proposed new directive are as follows:

to limit the scope of the directive to ships providing regular ro-ro ferry and high-speed passenger craft services between ports within a Member State or between a port in a Member State and a port in a third State where the flag of the vessel is the same as that of the Member State in question; to remove a number of redundant definitions and references such as "passenger", "host state", "international voyages", "exemption certificate", and to delete the reference to the investigation of marine casualties which is now covered by Directive 2009/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; to provide for system of ship (rather than company) based inspections prior to the commencement of a regular service. The vessel must undergo an inspection in accordance with Annex II and a number of safety management issues set out in Annex I must also be verified; to stipulate that ships falling within the scope of the Directive are inspected twice per year with a certain time-lag between inspections and that one of these inspections should be an in-service inspection during a regular crossing ; to provide that Member State can, if they wish, combine the inspection with a flag State survey which would have to be carried out in respect of a vessel on a yearly basis; to bring into line the provisions relating to the inspection reports, prohibitions of departure, appeals, costs, the inspection database and penalties with those provided in Directive 2009/16/EC; align the directive with the provisions of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union concerning the exercise of the Commission’s powers in relation to delegated acts.

to amend Directive 2009/16/EC to ensure that the current content and frequency of ro-ro ferries and high-speed passenger craft inspections is maintained; to provide for assessment of the directive by the Commission.

DELEGATED ACTS: the proposal contains provisions empowering the Commission to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.