Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

The Rapporteur welcomes the Commission proposal to revise the Directive 2009/21/EC on compliance with flag State requirements. It should improve the quality of inspections of EU-flagged ships, provide for a better oversight of recognised organisations carrying out work under the responsibility of a flag state and set up a more harmonised training system for the European inspectors. In turn, this should lead to a better enforcement of safety rules, less pollution from shipping and better compliance of the EU Member States with their obligations as flag States under the IMO regime.

The Rapporteur supports the obligation to have a quality management system as well as a broader use of modern digital technologies, in particular in the field of electronic certificates and interoperability of EMSA databases that could be consulted by European port state authorities in preparation for a port state inspection of a European flagged ship.

The Rapporteur believes that digitization and automation of the maritime sector have a significant potential to contribute to the reduction of its emissions and play a key role in its decarbonisation, in line with the ambitions of the Green Deal. She is also convinced that in order to preserve the competitiveness, the European maritime transport sector must participate in the Union's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest, in line with the Paris Agreement. To this end, she is of the opinion that Member States should use the Union Maritime Information and Exchange System (SafeSeaNet) and services established by Directive 2002/59/EC and proposes that electronic certificates become mandatory for all member states already after three years from the date of entry into force of this Directive.

In order to improve safety and ensure level playing field, the rapporteur is also convinced that training programs provided by EMSA to flag State authorities should favour more harmonised approach and should be continued, reinforced and extended to cover Maritime Labour Convention- related aspects in more detail. EMSA should facilitate coordination, as well as an exchange of information and of good practice between flag State authorities in this regard. The Rapporteur would like to see the inspections to reflect on the working conditions, safety and environmental performance of all ships flying the flag of Member States and therefore include accurate data on crews’ working and resting hours. Flag states should revise the guidelines provided to their inspectors and those authorised to act on their behalf to include systematic verification of these records' accuracy.

The rapporteur is of the opinion that to eliminate unwanted practices like the reflagging of vessels and the use of open registries, there should be a 'genuine link' between the actual owner of a vessel and the flag the vessel flies, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS Article 5 of the 1958 Convention and Article 91(1) of the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Accordingly, shipowners should be obliged to pay social security contributions under the flag they are sailing unless the employee pays them according to the law of the state in which they reside.

Finally, the Commission proposal sets up an expert group on flag state requirements to provide a platform for the exchange of best practice and in order to develop a joint approach to flag state inspections and a common reporting format. While the rapporteur agrees with this idea and believes that adequate capacity and competence building should be maintained and promoted, she considers that the solutions and recommendations developped by the expert group should should not penalise well-performing administrations.