Revision of Directive on Maritime accident investigation

Background

The European Commission's 2021 and 2022 work programmes envisaged proposals to revise the core building blocks of the EU's maritime safety legislation, such as the Directive on accident investigations.

The findings of the ex-post evaluation of the directive and statements by relevant stakeholders all indicate that the Accident Investigation Directive has been well transposed and implemented by the Member States concerned and that the system generally performs well, thus contributing to the creation of a level playing field for the sector and increased capacities within national administrations.

The directive, adopted in 2009 and in force since 2011, did not introduce major changes to the existing international rules or Member States' practices, but integration into the EU acquis allowed harmonised enforcement.

Today, based on the experience gained over more than a decade of relatively unproblematic implementation, the co-legislators should be able to review the directive to introduce further simplification and mostly technical updates, reflecting past and upcoming transformation of the industry and to stay aligned with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) framework.

Key points

The EESC:

• supports the objectives of providing Member States' accident investigation bodies with further legal clarity and capacity to improve their operations and timely reporting. In particular, cooperation and mutual assistance of EU Member States in safety investigations should be stepped up in light of new maritime security challenges.
• stresses the crucial role of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in providing training to Member States' competent authorities with regard to new technologies, energy sources for propulsion, manoeuvring, operation and sustainability issues.
• welcomes the reference in the proposed Directive to fair treatment of seafarers in the case of maritime accidents to avoid the unfair criminalisation of the profession. Maritime workers are respected professionals and it is important to highlight that they play a critical role in the management and implementation of safe operations. In this respect, the dissemination of accident reports to a wide audience and fast implementation of their recommendations should therefore be further developed in collaboration with the industry and social partners.

Additional information

Section: Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN)

Opinion number: TEN/817

Opinion type: Mandatory

Rapporteur: Sam Hägglund (Workers - Group II / Sweden)

Referral: COM(2023) 270 final 2023/0164 COD

Date of adoption by section: 6 September 2023

Result of the vote: 26 in favour, 0 against, 0 abstentions

Date of adoption in plenary: 20-21 September 2023

Result of the vote: 216 in favour, 1 against, 1 abstention

Contact