Activites

• 2002/11/29 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Regulation 2002/2099
  • OJ L 324 29.11.2002, p. 0001-0005
• 2002/11/05 Final act signed
• 2002/11/05 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2002/09/24 Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading
  • T5-0421/2002 summary

    The European Parliament adopted the resolution drafted by Emmanouil BAKOPOULOS (EUL/NGL, Greece) and approved the Council's common position.�

• 2002/09/10 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
  • A5-0280/2002
• 2002/05/30 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• #2428
• 2002/05/27 Council Meeting
  • 07100/1/2002 summary

    The unanimously adopted common position approves the objective of the proposal, which it regards as a justified simplification measure. The setting up of the Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, which will bring together under a single committee all the committee procedures put in place under various maritime safety regulations and directives, should make the committee work more transparent and allow more consistent implementation of Community policies on maritime safety and the prevention of pollution from ships. The centralisation of tasks should also facilitate the reduction of bureaucracy and costs by cutting down on the number of meetings. The Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships will be subject to the procedures relating to the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission, laid down in Council Decision No 1999/468/EC. The Council also approves the general pattern of the proposals as regards the rapid application of the most recent rules on maritime safety and the prevention of pollution from ships adopted by the international organisations. In that respect, the Council endorses the view that the procedures established to ensure rapid amendment of the relevant Community legislative texts in response to the changes in international rules should be accompanied by a prior check on the conformity of the amendments, to avoid the application of provisions that might be incompatible with Community law or lower Community maritime safety standards. The Council believes, however, that the circumstances in which the procedure to check conformity will be initiated must be clearly defined and it must be ensured that the whole procedure can be completed at the appropriate time, before expiry of the period after which the amendment is deemed to have been tacitly accepted or before the proposed date of entry into force of the amendment in question. It also wishes to ensure that the process of incorporating the changes to international rules into Community maritime law is as transparent as possible. The common position of the Council incorporates, fully or in substance, the amendments tabled by the European Parliament at first reading: - the Council has amended the description of the committee's tasks and the scope of the legislative field covered by the proposal in order to include the prevention of pollution from ships and living and working conditions on board. The committee will be designated 'the Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships'. However, the Council does not consider that there should be any reference to the question of protection of the maritime environment, which is already covered by the environmental legislation; - the role of the European Parliament in the regulatory procedure established by Council Decision No 1999/468/EC is expressly referred to; - a specific reference to the abolition of the committees set up under Community maritime law has been included; - the procedure to check the conformity of the proposed amendments should only be resorted to if it has previously been established that the amendment would lower maritime safety standards or would be incompatible with Community legislation. To that end, the text makes the initiation of the procedure to check conformity subject to an evaluation, to be carried out by the Commission, to establish that there is a manifest risk in that regard. Finally, the common position adopts certain amendments made to the Commission's proposal, aimed in particular at: - defining the circumstances in which the procedure to check conformity will be initiated and improving the presentation of the provisions relating to the various aspects of the procedure. The procedure to check conformity is to be regarded as an exceptional measure, which can only be initiated in specific circumstances; - adding a reference to cooperation between the Commission and the Member States in the international bodies concerned, in order to reduce the risk of the latter adopting amendments that are incompatible with Community legislation; - making it clear that the Commission, acting if necessary at the request of a Member State, initiates the procedure to check conformity without delay and that the procedure ends at least one month before the expiry of the above-mentioned period; - introducing a provision to the effect that, in the interests of greater transparency, all the amendments concerned are to be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. �

• #2420
• 2002/03/25 Council Meeting
• 2001/12/27 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(2001)0788 summary

    The Commission welcomes most of the proposed parliamentary changes. Firstly, it accepts a re-wording of the Committee to be known as the "Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships". The Commission proposes that in future it should be referred to as "COSS" in order to clarify and simplify its name. Concerning the role of the European Parliament in the regulatory procedure, the Commission can accept this amendment subject to some rewording based on the standard wording approved at inter-institutional level for committee procedures. Thirdly, the Commission agrees to amend Article 4 relating to the conformity checking procedure. The Commission accepts a need for clarification and has itself made changes to the wording of the text in order to achieve this objective. In addition to accepting many of the Parliament's amendments, the Commission is taking the opportunity to propose some changes which would draw a distinct line between the recently established "European Maritime Safety Agency" and COSS. The first was set up in the wake of the ERIKA disaster. COSS on the other hand has a different remit. In order to clarify the roles and objectives of the two Committees the Commission proposes amending its proposal. The objective is to make it clear that the Committee will act only strictly within the implementing powers conferred on the Commission under the Treaty and that this proposal will imply no extension of these powers. Finally, the adopted proposal takes into account recently adopted Directives relating to port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues and a Directive on the minimum level of training of seafarers.�

  • DG ['Energy and Transport'],
• 2001/02/13 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T5-0064/2001 summary

    The European Parliament adopted the report by Mr Emmanouil BAKOPOULOS (EUL/NGL, GR) on maritime safety. However, amendments were made which relate to the new name of the Committee on Safe Seas. The Parliament requests that the new name be 'Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships'.�

• 2001/01/24 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0031/2001
• 2000/10/06 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2000/09/15 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2000)0489 summary

    PURPOSE : to improve the implementation of the pertinent Community legislation on maritime safety, protection of marine environment and shipboard living and working conditions (refer equally to COD/2000/0237). CONTENT : the proposed regulation aims to set up the committee on safe seas and lay down the procedures governing its operation and scope. The proposal also provides for amending existing regulations in the field of maritime safety, both to take account of the creation of the committee on safe seas and to facilitate their subsequent updating in the light of developments in the international legislation on maritime safety.�

  • DG ['Energy and Transport'],

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2000)0489
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A5-0031/2001
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0064/2001
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(2001)0788
• Council position published: 07100/1/2002
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A5-0280/2002
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T5-0421/2002
• : Regulation 2002/2099
• : OJ L 324 29.11.2002, p. 0001-0005

History

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