Activites

• 1998/08/01 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 1998/55
  • OJ L 215 01.08.1998, p. 0065
• #2114
• 1998/07/17 Council Meeting
• 1998/07/17 End of procedure in Parliament
• 1998/07/17 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• 1998/05/14 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(1998)0319 summary

    In its re-examined proposal following Parliament's second reading, the Commission has incorporated two of the four amendments adopted by Parliament. These are the amendments on the new version of the INF code (International Maritime Organization code on safety rules for the transport of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive waste in flasks on board ships), which came into force on 1 January 1998 and not 1 January 1996 as stated in the common position. The Commission also accepts a general amendment ensuring that the level of environmental safety standards laid down in the directive will be maintained even if texts, conventions and codes are modified at international level. The other amendments were either redundant (notification obligation for vessels in transit in the territorial waters of the Member States) or inappropriate. �

• 1998/03/11 Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading
  • T4-0134/1998 summary

    In adopting the recommendation for second reading by Mr Alfonso NOVO BELENGUER (ARE, E), Parliament approved the common position whose purpose was: - to include within the scope of the 1993 Directive requirements for vessels carrying irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and highly radioactive waste; - to supplement the information provided to port authorities by inserting additional information in the technical annexes; - to facilitate the future amendment of the annexes by means of the commitology procedure. Parliament stated that the changes must not weaken the provisions concerning safety and protection of the marine environment. It called for operators of vessels transporting dangerous or polluting goods whilst transiting through the territorial waters of the Community without stopping at a Community port to notify their route to the coastal Member States en route before beginning the voyage. �

• 1998/03/10 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    Commissioner Flynn said that Amendments Nos 2 (introducing a reference to the INF Code of the International Maritime Organisation) and 4 on the committee procedure could be accepted. However, Amendments Nos 1 and 3 were not acceptable: the first, which also concerned the committee procedure, was completely superfluous as the common position already stated that amendments adopted by committee could not alter the requirements of the directive; the second, which introduced a notification requirement for vessels in transit off the coast of Member States, could not be accepted for reasons of consistency.

• 1998/02/25 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
  • A4-0069/1998
• 1997/12/18 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• 1997/12/11 Council position published
  • 11603/4/1997 summary

    The Council's common position amends the definition of 'dangerous goods' which originally only referred to the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG) in order to clarify that it covers radioactive materials as referred to in the INF Code. It also requires ships to notify their INF Class. As a consequence the common position also provides for a definition of 'INF Code'. Moreover, the competences of the regulatory committee provided for under Directive 93/75/EEC have been extended so that it will be in a position: -to apply, for the purposes of the Directive, subsequent amendments to the INF Code which have entered into force; - to amend the Annexes in line with subsequent amendments to the relevant international conventions, codes and resolutions which have entered into force, but without broadening the scope of the Directive. The common position also amends Annex I (information on vessels carrying dangerous or polluting goods) and Annex II (check list for vessels) in the light of amendments to the relevant international instruments which have entered into force since the date of adoption of Directive 93/75/EEC. The Member States will have to comply with the Directive no later than 30 June 1998. The Council followed the Commission's amended proposal on all points, taking over in particular two of Parliament's amendments seeking to: - permit the application for the purposes of the Directive of subsequent amendments to the INF Code by using the committee procedure set up under Directive 93/75/EEC; - ensure that the authorities in charge of emergency response in the case of an accident or incident at sea involving a ship carrying hazardous materials have access to information on the number of crew on board. �

• #2059
• 1997/12/10 Council Meeting
• 1997/07/23 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(1997)0344 summary

    The Commission's amended proposal took account of Parliament's amendments relating to: - the amendment of the first article of the draft directive, as this would facilitate subsequent amendments to the annexes to the directive under the committee procedure provided for by Directive 93/75/EC, with a view to taking account of future amendments of the International Maritime Organisation's INF code for the safe carriage of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive waste in flasks on board ships; - the amendment of Annex I on the requirement to inform the port state authorities of the number of crew on board. However, the Commission did not accept the amendments that did not come under the scope of the directive or that related to situations that were already covered in other legislative proposals. These included: - the amendment aimed at banning the transport of radioactive material on board ships carrying passengers; - the amendment stipulating that radioactive material may only be transported in containers meeting the latest IAEA standards; - the addition to the list of information included in Annex I of Directive 93/75/EEC involving various safety requirements and emergency measures relating to the carriage of radioactive material; - the extension of the notification requirements to cover vessels in transit; - the requirement for passenger ships carrying dangerous goods to possess a list of the passengers on board; - the requirement for Member States to systematically forward any information they receive to the relevant authorities in the other Member States involved. �

• 1997/04/24 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0203/1997 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Alfonso Novo Belenguer, (ARE; ES) the European Parliament amended the Commission proposal, calling in particular for : - a ban on radioactive material of any type being transported on board ships carrying passengers; - all vessels transporting dangerous or polluting goods, even if not stopping at a Community port, to notify the coastal Member States on route, before beginning the voyage, of all information listed in Annex 1. Concerning the transport of dangerous substances by passenger vessels, Parliament proposes tighter controls on the transportation of such materials with passengers in Community waters, and an obligation for ship-owners and ships' masters to notify the Post State authorities of the number of crew members and to publish a passenger list. �

• 1997/04/23 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    The rapporteur stressed the urgent need to improve the transport conditions of hazardous (particularly radioactive) or polluting goods. He therefore proposed that the contents of the directive in question should be extended to vessels passing through Community waters, without prejudice, of course, to their right to innocent passage. Mr Belenguer also stressed the danger involved in transporting hazardous goods on boats also carrying passengers. In this case, the operator should at least be required to provide the list of passengers. Commissioner Kinnock said that Amendments Nos 8 and 9 could be accepted as they should improve emergency procedures in the event of an accident. However, he rejected Amendments Nos 1 and 3 which aimed to prohibit the transport of radioactive materials on board passenger ships as they were outside the scope of the directive which only dealt with notification requirements. For the same reason Amendments Nos 2, 10 and 11 had to be rejected. As for Amendments Nos 4, 5 and 6, these were already reflected in the proposed directive being discussed by the Council, known under the acronym of EuroRep. Amendment No 7 was also unacceptable as it would impose on national authorities a permanent obligation to exchange all this information which was only necessary in exceptional circumstances. Finally, Amendment No 12 also could not be accepted as this repeated the provisions of a proposed directive, adopted by the Commission the previous year, on the presence of the passenger list on board vessels.

• 1997/02/26 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0073/1997
• #1979
• 1996/12/13 Council Meeting
  • 1979
• 1996/10/23 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• #1951
• 1996/10/03 Council Meeting
  • 1951
• 1996/09/23 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(1996)0455 summary

    OBJECTIVE: To amend Directive 93/75/EEC, the aim of which is to improve prevention and remedial action in the event of circumstances at sea which might lead to accidents involving ships carrying dangerous or polluting goods. SUBSTANCE: The proposal for a Council directive aims to: - extend the scope of Directive 93/75/EEC to cover the carriage of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive waste in flasks on board ships; - supplement the information given in the annexes to the directive in the light of developments in international legislation (e.g. by including a reference to the IMO identification number, the purpose of which is to facilitate identification of vessels in order to enhance safety at sea and to protect the marine environment); - facilitate the amendment of those annexes in the light of developments in international legislation by applying the committee procedure. �

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(1996)0455
• Debate in Council: 1951
• Debate in Council: 1979
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A4-0073/1997
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0203/1997
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(1997)0344
• Council position published: 11603/4/1997
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A4-0069/1998
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T4-0134/1998
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(1998)0319
• : Directive 1998/55
• : OJ L 215 01.08.1998, p. 0065

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)