Activites

• 2006/12/30 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 2006/87
  • OJ L 389 30.12.2006, p. 0001
• 2006/12/12 Final act signed
• 2006/12/12 End of procedure in Parliament
• #2757
• 2006/10/23 Council Meeting
• 2006/07/05 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0298/2006 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Renate SOMMER (EPP-ED, DE) making one amendment to the Council's common position.  (Please see the summary of  01/06/2006.)

• 2006/07/04 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2006/06/08 Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading
  • A6-0208/2006
• 2006/06/01 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
• 2006/03/16 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• #2710
• 2006/02/23 Council Meeting
  • 13274/1/2005 summary

    The common position, adopted unanimously, is in line with the Commission proposal, while slightly modifying the text of some articles either for clarification purposes or in order to accommodate   concerns brought forward by certain Member States. This common position does not only constitute the current Council position, but also incorporates almost all of Parliament’s amendments in first reading. Most of these changes are formal, sometimes leading to a replacement of words, phrases, paragraphs or articles. For example, Parliament’s amendment to replace a fixed date on which Member States must implement the provisions necessary to comply with the Directive by a definition of this date in relation to the day of publication has been taken up. To this end, a reference to the entry into force of the Directive has been inserted into certain Articles as well as in the Annexes.Given that technical progress and developments arising from the work of other international organisations, namely the CCNR, did not come to a halt during the “hibernation” of the Directive, a Joint Working Group of Experts from EU Member States, the CCNR and the European Commission has worked continuously since 2002 in order to adapt the voluminous technical annexes of the Directive. During this procedure, three new annexes – currently numbered 7, 8 and 9 – were inserted in the text. The Council has integrated the result of these works in the common position.The most important changes introduced by the Council concern the following:- obligation to carry a certificate: the text of this Article, which provides for the equivalency between the technical requirements as defined in Annex II of the Directive and the technical requirements laid down in application of the Revised Convention for Navigation on the Rhine, is the result of in-depth preparative discussions between the European Commission and the EU Member States which are members of the CCNR. This Article constitutes the cornerstone of the Directive, because it ensures that certificates issued under this Community Directive give rights to navigation on the Rhine equivalent to those given by certificates issued by the Rhine riparian countries and Belgium;- additional or reduced technical requirements for certain zones: has been modified in order to accommodate the concerns of some Member States to have the possibility to disapply the transitional provisions set out in Chapter 24a of Annex II in those cases  there their application would result in a reduction of existing national safety standards;- committee procedure: has been modified so as to follow the general rules for Committee procedures according to Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC;- the Council has modified the proposal into a recast exercise, replacing the current Directive 82/714/EEC. This means that it also contains all Articles of the current Directive which have not been amended, and that a new Article 25 concerning the “Repeal of Directive 82/714/EEC” has been added to the text;- addressees: the text was modified so as to provide that the Directive is only addressed to the 13 Member States which have inland waterways as referred to in Article 1(1).

• #2629
• 2004/12/09 Council Meeting
  • 2629 summary

    The Council unanimously adopted a partial political agreement on the operative part of a draft Council Directive laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels. The Council will adopt a common position on this matter once agreement has been reach on the annexes (around 400 pages) to the proposed amendment. The annexes are yet to be translated into all of the EU’s official languages. Work on the draft Directive, which was first proposed in December 1997, has been delayed because of issues relating to the admittance of vessels with Community certificates to the navigation on the Rhine. Currently, vessels using the Rhine waterways must have a certificate proving conformity with the Rhine vessel inspection regulation, as adopted by the CCNR. The Community certificate, being proposed in the draft Directive, provides for equivalence between the Rhine certificate and the Community certificate. However, until now, such equivalence was not legally possible according to CCNR rules. In December 2004, the CCNR introduced a legal basis for navigation on the Rhine with certificates delivered by bodies other than the CCNR. In other words Community certificates will be considered as equivalent to Rhine certificates. The Council also made a unilateral statement to the Commission in which it stated that when implementing the present Directive, the Commission must co-ordinate closely with the CCNR, both concerning the adaptation of the annexes and in relation to the application of the Directive by the Member States. In addition to the Commission should take account of all further initiatives undertaken by the CCNR.  The Federal Republic of Germany understood this to mean the application of the co-operation agreement dated 3 March 2003 between the European Commission and the Central Commission for navigation on the Rhine.

• 1999/09/16 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T5-0015/1999 summary

    The European Parliament confirmed its first reading in the context of the codecision procedure of the text that it adopted on 20.10.1998 on this proposal for a directive.�

• 1999/07/28 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• #X010
• 1999/06/17 Council Meeting
• #2142
• 1998/11/30 Council Meeting
• 1997/12/08 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(1997)0644 summary

    OBJECTIVE: guarantee the highest level of safety in inland navigation and to establish the single market in waterway transport services through the adoption of common technical standards. SUBSTANCE: the Commission seeks to update without delay technical standards relating to inland waterway vessels laid down in Directive 82/714/EEC, since they are now out of date. This process should take the form of a revision of the technical requirements in line with the latest Rhine rules, not only because they represent the most up-to-date safety standards which have also proved their worth in practice but because this is also the approach being adopted by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). The action will improve safety in inland waterway transport, ensure a single set of technical requirements for inland waterway vessels within the EU and also contribute to harmonization at pan-European level. It will facilitate transport by inland waterway and thereby contribute to a modal shift in favour of waterways and a reduction in the overall level of environmental damage brought about by transport activities. In addition, shipbuilders will be able to construct vessels according to harmonized specifications for a larger single market. �

  • DG Energy and Transport, BARROT Jacques

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(1997)0644
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0015/1999
• Debate in Council: 2629
• Council position published: 13274/1/2005
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A6-0208/2006
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T6-0298/2006
• : Directive 2006/87
• : OJ L 389 30.12.2006, p. 0001

History

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