What changes are proposed to the Directive on ship- source pollution and why?
The revision of Directive 2005/35/ EC will significantly extend the scope to: harmful substances carried by sea in packaged form, sewage, garbage, and discharge water and residues from scrubbers. The proposal clarifies the liability regime applicable under MARPOL and introduces new measures on administrative penalties, without affecting the Environmental Crime Directive[1], currently under inter- institutional negotiations, which will take over the criminal penalties for ship-source pollution offences. In light of the cross-border nature of ship-source pollution, criteria to set penalty levels will also be introduced, ensuring that their deterrent effect is consistent across the EU.
The revision proposes to extend the surveillance services provided by EMSA through ‘CleanSeaNet’ to cover all types of pollutants. To improve information exchange between Member States and the Commission and strengthen enforcement action against pollution, EMSA tools and services such as CleanSeaNet, SafeSeaNet and THETIS will be further optimised and follow-up obligations on potential pollution incidents are provided for. These measures should allow Member States to better target potential pollution and reduce their enforcement costs.
The Commission will assist Member States in implementing the revised directive by assisting the training of relevant national authorities and facilitating whistle-blowers reporting potential pollution incidents. To increase public awareness on ship- source pollution discharges, and improve environmental protection, a regularly updated website containing key non-confidential information will inform the public of the implementation of the Directive.
The proposal also revises the reporting obligations of Member States to allow better monitoring of the implementation of the
enforcement system provided by the Directive. To minimise the administrative burden, the development of a single reporting tool for Member State is proposed (to be developed by EMSA).
What changes to the Regulation establishing EMSA are proposed and why?
The revision is a necessary step to make the agency more effective and responsive. The agency’s mandate needs to be revised as it does not properly reflect EMSA’s current scope of activities. This has changed due to the evolving needs of the maritime sector and the new EU regulatory framework in several areas.
The proposed Regulation will reflect EMSA’s new tasks in maritime safety, sustainability, decarbonisation, security and cybersecurity, surveillance, and assistance in crisis management.
EMSA also carries out visits to Member States to verify operations on the ground on behalf of the Commission as part of EMSA’s support role to the Commission. In port State control, flag State compliance and accident investigation, Member States will have to put in place a quality management system. This will have to be certified and subsequently subject to audit every five years.
The more detailed reporting requirements of Member States under the revised ship-source pollution directive will ensure that the Commission collects the necessary information for monitoring the implementation of the Directive, in the interest of minimising pollution from ships in European seas. Implementation can for example be monitored by checking if Member States provide feedback to EMSA- managed CleanSeaNet alerts in a timely and effective manner. The Commission, with support from EMSA, will also develop a public website with core indicators on the implementation rate, and the key non-confidential information on incidents of illegal discharges.
How will the Commission support the implementation of the proposed
directives? The Commission services will monitor the implementation and effectiveness of these initiatives through a number of actions.
The port State control Directive, as well as the maritime accident investigation Directive, already require administrations to upload results to the THETIS database, managed by EMSA. The flag State Directive will provide for Member State authorities to also share the result of their flag State inspections.
What else is the Commission doing to make maritime shipping cleaner and safer?
On safety matters, the EU has a comprehensive set of legislation which is constantly reviewed. The Commission, supported by EMSA, is engaging with experts from Member States, as well as from other stakeholders, to address current issues, such as containership safety, autonomous shipping, and ships in need of technical assistance, to ensure continuous improvement and enforcement at national, EU and international level.
The Commission works continuously with EU Member States and third country partners in the IMO to help the organisation deliver on higher safety and environmental standards.
THE REPORT | DEC 2023 | ISSUE 106 | 85
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