Council adopts position to strengthen European Maritime Safety Agency
The Council adopted today its negotiating position (general approach) on a new regulation strengthening the role of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).
This is the last piece of legislation that is part of the so-called ‘maritime safety’ legislative package. The rest of the legislative proposals were provisionally agreed by the co-legislators at the beginning of this year and are expected to be formally adopted by the Council in autumn 2024.
We have worked hard and managed to agree on a whole package of maritime safety legislation in record time in the Council. Today’s decision sets the baselines for more sustainable, safer, and cleaner maritime transport providing a solid and future-proof framework for the European Maritime Safety Agency’s assistance to member states and the Commission to effectively address the evolving needs of the maritime sector.
Paul Van Tigchelt, Belgian deputy prime minister and minister of justice and the North Sea
The new regulation aims to update the EMSA’s mandate to better anchor and reflect the Agency’s new tasks in the areas of pollution prevention and response, decarbonisation, digitalisation, surveillance, and maritime awareness. The EMSA will be therefore legally mandated to fulfil these tasks and support the member states and the Commission with the necessary technical, operational, and scientific assistance to ensure maritime safety and security, as well as the sector’s green and digital transition. The revision also aims to ensure that the Agency has adequate human and financial resources to fulfil its role.
The general thrust of the Commission proposal has been retained in the Council’s position. However, the Council introduced several changes on the following aspects of the proposal:
it focuses the Agency’s work on its core tasks, while not excluding that it takes on additional tasks, if and when considered necessary and appropriate by member states and the Commission due to developments in the maritime domain
member states’ rights and obligations and – not least – the budgetary implications of new tasks are always to be taken into account
on governance, the weight of member states in the management board has been strengthened and the latter’s proper involvement in decision-making has been secured
the possibility for the management board to establish committees and working groups, if necessary, has been maintained, thus leaving the necessary flexibility, and considerations of need and resources to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis
Next steps
Following today’s adoption of the Council’s negotiating mandate (general approach), the incoming presidency can begin talks (‘trilogues’) with the European Parliament on this file.
Background information
The proposal forms part of the maritime safety package submitted by the Commission on 1 June 2023. The five legislative proposals, including a set of revised directives on ship-source pollution, compliance with flag state requirements, port state control and investigation of maritime accidents, aim to modernise EU rules on maritime safety and reduce water pollution from ships.
With 75% of the EU's external trade being seaborne, maritime transport is not only the artery of a globalised economy, but also a lifeline for the EU's islands and peripheral and remote maritime regions. Although maritime safety in EU waters is currently very high, with few fatalities and no recent major oil spills, more than 2 000 marine accidents and incidents are still reported every year. The new laws will equip the EU with modern tools to support clean and safer shipping.
EMSA will play a prominent role in the implementation of the new requirements through the support it will offer to member states’ administrations to enforce the new rules. The proposed regulation therefore puts forward changes to EMSA's mandate and incorporates the Agency’s new tasks in the revised framework. Claudia Monteiro de Aguiar (EPP / PT) was the European Parliament’s rapporteur on this file.
