Ingangsdatum:
01-01-1999
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
and in particular Article 84(2) thereof,
Having regard to the
proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of
the Economic and Social Committee (2),
Acting in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),
(1) Whereas within the framework of the
common transport policy further measures must be taken to enhance safety in maritime
transport;
(2) Whereas the Community is
seriously concerned by shipping accidents involving passenger ships which have resulted
in massive loss of life, particularly those involving the Herald of Free Enterprise and
the Estonia; whereas persons using passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft
throughout the Community have the right to expect and to be able to rely on an
appropriate level of safety and upon an adequate information system which will
facilitate search and rescue and the efficient handling of the aftermath of any accident
that might occur;
(3) Whereas it is necessary
to ensure that the number of passengers on board a passenger ship does not exceed the
number for which the ship and its safety equipment have been certified; whereas
companies should be able to inform the search and rescue services of the number of
persons involved in an accident;
(4) Whereas
information must be compiled on passengers and crew in order to facilitate search and
rescue and the efficient handling of the aftermath of an accident, i.e. identifying the
persons involved, providing clearer information on related legal issues and contributing
to more appropriate medical care for rescued persons; whereas such information would
prevent unnecessary anxiety on the part of relatives and other persons concerned
regarding persons on board passenger ships involved in marine accidents in waters for
which Member States bear responsibility under the 1979 International Convention on
Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR);
(5) Whereas
passengers should therefore be counted and registered before any ship departs;
(6) Whereas Chapter III of the International
Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (the SOLAS Convention) provides for the counting
and registration of all persons on board all passenger ships sailing on international
voyages, from 1 July 1997 and 1 January 1999 respectively, while permitting
Administrations to exempt passenger ships sailing in sheltered waters from those
requirements and from the requirement to register if the scheduled voyages of such ships
render it impracticable for them to prepare such records; whereas that Chapter of the
SOLAS Convention does not apply to domestic voyages and leaves important points of
interpretation to the discretion of individual Member States;
(7) Whereas this Directive is in accordance
with the right of Member States to impose on passenger ships sailing to or from their
ports certain requirements more stringent than those laid down in the SOLAS Convention;
(8) Whereas in view, in particular, of the
internal-market dimension of maritime passenger transport, action at Community level is
the most effective way of establishing a common minimum level of safety for ships
throughout the Community;
(9) Whereas, in view
of the principle of proportionality a Council Directive is the appropriate legal
instrument as it provides a framework for the Member States' uniform and compulsory
application of safety standards while leaving each Member State the right to decide
which implementation tools best fit its internal system;
(10) Whereas a Member State can ensure
compliance with the safety rules applicable on the part of passenger ships flying its
flag and the companies that operate them; whereas those rules should not be imposed upon
ships operating between ports in third countries; whereas the provisions of the SOLAS
Convention apply to those voyages;
(11) Whereas
the only way of ensuring the safe and efficient handling of the aftermath of accidents
for all passenger ships, irrespective of their flags, operating or wishing to operate
from their ports, is for the Member States to require effective compliance with the
relevant rules as a condition of operating from their ports; whereas the granting of
exemptions from those rules cannot be left solely to the flag State since only the port
State is in a position to determine the requirements for the best possible search and
rescue operations for passenger ships sailing to and from a port;
(12) Whereas in order to harmonise safety
protection and avoid distortions of competition, Member States should not, for reasons
other than those mentioned in this Directive, grant exemptions or derogations from the
relevant SOLAS provisions on 'information on passengers` for voyages starting from or
arriving at Community ports;
(13) Whereas for
reasons of practicability and to avoid distortion of competition, a uniform approach
must be established to determine the voyages for which the registration of all persons
on board should be mandatory; whereas the twenty-mile threshold is the result of taking
into consideration general principles and specific points of concern endorsed by all
Member States;
(14) Whereas, for specific
operational reasons, the counting of persons on board passenger ships crossing the
Strait of Messina might, for a limited period of time, be done in a simpler way than
individual counting; whereas Member States should enjoy the possibility of granting some
relaxation from the obligation to communicate to the shore the number of persons in the
case of passenger ships operating on regular services of short duration carried out
exclusively in protected sea areas, as defined in this Directive; whereas passenger
ships operating exclusively in protected sea areas constitute a more limited risk and
should, therefore, enjoy the possibility of exemption; whereas in certain specific
circumstances it may be impracticable for shipping companies to register persons on
board and therefore a derogation from the obligation to register could be permitted
under specific circumstances and well defined conditions;
(15) Whereas the collection and processing of
data concerning named individuals must be carried out in accordance with the principles
of data protection laid down in Directive 95/46/EC (4); whereas, in particular,
individuals should be fully informed at the time of collection of the purposes for which
the data are required, and the data should be retained only for a very short period
which should not in any case be any longer than necessary for the purposes of this
Directive;
(16) Whereas it is necessary that a
committee consisting of representatives of the Member States assist the Commission in
the effective application of this Directive; whereas the committee set up by Article 12
of Directive 93/75/EEC (5) can assume that function;
(17) Whereas certain provisions of this
Directive may be adapted by that Committee to take into account future amendments to the
SOLAS Convention that have entered into force,
(1) OJ C 31, 31. 1. 1997, p. 5 and OJ C 275, 11. 9. 1997, p. 7. (2) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 111. (3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 29 May 1997 (OJ
C 138, 16. 6. 1998, p. 31), Council common position of 11 December 1997 (OJ C 23, 23.
1. 1998, p. 17), and Decision of the European Parliament of 11 March 1998 (OJ C 104,
6. 4. 1998). (4) OJ L 281, 23. 11. 1995, p. 31. (5) OJ L 247, 5. 10. 1993, p. 19.