Safety rules and standards for passenger ships / Registration of persons on board passenger ships / Inspections of ro-ro ferries and high-speed passenger craft

‘EU Legislation in Progress’ briefings aim to provide Members of the European Parliament with systematic and automatic analysis on all substantial proposals for EU legislation at every stage of the legislative procedure. Each contains an account of the purpose, content and legal aspects of the legislation proposed, in particular analysing what the legislation would change, as well as any previous legislation and the background. An overview of stakeholders’ views is also provided, as well as the opinions of national parliaments and the two advisory committees.

They are all made publicly available for stakeholders and the public.The European Commission, in line with its regulatory fitness and performance programme (REFIT), has evaluated existing EU legislation on passenger ship safety and presented three proposals for directives, aimed at simplifying rules and cutting administrative costs, while at the same time making sea travel safer.

This proposal seeks to clarify the technical requirements introduced by Directive 2009/45/EC, which vessels must respect in areas of construction, stability and fire protection. The Commission proposes to exclude passenger ships below 24 metres in length from the scope, but include ships built from aluminium, and simplify the definition of sea areas. The newly defined standards should provide for uniform national interpretations and make the rules easier to update, monitor and enforce.

There are also briefings on the related proposals, on passenger registration and vessel inspections (see related url hyperlinks below).

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/45/EC on safety rules and standards for passenger ships http://www.europeansources.info/record/proposal-for-a-directive-of-the-european-parliament-and-of-the-council-amending-directive-2009-45-ec-on-safety-rules-and-standards-for-passenger-ships/

EP: EPRS: Briefing: EU Legislation in Progress, September 2017: Registration of persons on board passenger ships http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2017/595901/EPRS_BRI(2017)595901_EN.pdf

EP: EPRS: Briefing: EU Legislation in Progress, September 2017: Inspections of ro-ro ferries and high-speed passenger craft http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2017/595902/EPRS_BRI(2017)595902_EN.pdf

EP: EPRS: Plenary a Glance, October 2017: Safety rules and standards for passenger ships http://www.europeansources.info/record/safety-rules-and-standards-for-passenger-ships/

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