Directive (EU) 2024/3100

What it is

to update certain provisions of Directive 2009/21/EC on compliance with flag State requirements. PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: Directive 2009/21/EC on compliance with flag State requirements regulates the enforcement of rules applicable to flag State at the Union level. The responsibility for monitoring the compliance of ships with particular IMO conventions lies with the State where the ship is registered and whose nationality the ship holds - the flag State. The Directive therefore aims to ensure that ships flying the flags of EU Member States meet all safety and pollution prevention requirements and are fit for service. The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the report by Vera TAX (S&D, NL) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/21/EC on compliance with flag State requirements. The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: Conditions for allowing a ship to operate upon granting the right to fly the flag of a Member State To ensure the effectiveness of this Directive, every EU flag State should carry out its fair share of inspections, commensurate with the size and type of its fleet. A yearly minimum inspection quota of at least 30 % of ships flying its flag for every Member State should be set. The Commission, with the assistance of EMSA, should produce a guidance document offering advice on how to implement Directive 2013/54/EU concerning certain flag State responsibilities for compliance with and enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. EMSA should also provide detailed information about the problems most frequently detected during port State inspections of ships under each flag, as well as explanations and clarifications concerning the specific documentation and certificates of each flag State. Electronic certificates should be mandatory for all Members States from three years from the date of entry into force of this amending Directive, at the latest. The report also called for Member States to ensure that shipboard working arrangements and records of seafarers' daily hours of work or of their daily hours of rest are transmitted electronically to the inspection database.. Member States should take the necessary measures to undergo the IMO audit of their administration at least once every five years (compared to seven years proposed by the Commission) and should publish the outcome of the audit as well as any corrective actions in the Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) database set up by the IMO. Member States should also make the same information available to the public, in accordance with relevant national legislation on confidentiality. Members suggested that flag States should revise the guidelines provided to their inspectors, and to those authorised to act on their behalf, so…

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