Legal provisions of COM(1994)275 - Statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passagers by sea

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dossier COM(1994)275 - Statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passagers by sea.
document COM(1994)275 EN
date December  8, 1995


Contents

Article 1

Member States shall collect Community statistics on the carriage of goods and passengers by seagoing vessels calling at ports in their territories.

Article 2 - Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive:

1. carriage of goods and passengers by sea means the movement of goods and passengers using seagoing vessels, on voyages which are undertaken wholly or partly at sea.

The scope of this Directive shall also include goods:

(a) shipped to offshore installations;

(b) reclaimed from the seabed and unloaded in ports.

Bunkers and stores supplied to vessels shall be excluded from the scope;

2. seagoing vessels means vessels other than those which navigate exclusively in inland waters or in waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply.

This Directive shall not apply to fish-catching vessels, fish-processing vessels, vessels for drilling and exploration, tugs, pusher craft, research and survey vessels, dredgers, naval vessels or vessels used solely for non-commercial purposes;

3. port means a place having facilities for merchant ships to moor and to load or unload cargo or to disembark or embark passengers to or from vessels;

4. nationality of the maritime transport operator means the country in which the effective centre of the transport operator's commercial activity is located;

5. maritime transport operator means any person by whom or on behalf of whom a contract for the transport for goods or persons by sea is concluded with a shipper or a passenger.

Article 3 - Data collection characteristics

1. Member States shall collect data relating to the following domains:

(a) cargo and passenger information;

(b) information on the vessel.

Vessels with a gross tonnage of less than 100 may be excluded from the data collection.

2. The characteristics of the data collection, namely the statistical variables in each domain and the nomenclatures for their classification, as well as their periodicity of observation, are set out in the Annexes to this Directive.

3. The data collection shall be based, in so far as possible, on available sources, limiting the burden on respondents.

Article 4 - Ports

1. For the purposes of this Directive, a list of ports, coded and classified according to countries and maritime coastal areas, shall be drawn up in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 13.

2. Each Member State shall select from this list any port handling mare than one million tonnes of goods or recording more than 200 000 passenger movements annually.

For a period of no more than tree years from the entry into force of this Directive, each Member State may select only ports handling more than two million tonnes of goods or recording more than 400 000 passenger movements annually.

For each port selected, detailed data are to be provided, in conformity with Annex VIII, for the domains (goods and passengers) in which that port meets the selection criterion, and with summary data, if appropriate, for the other domain.

3. For the ports which are not selected from the list, summary data are to be provided in conformity with Annex VIII, data set A3.

Article 5 - Accuracy of statistics

The methods of collecting data shall be such that Community sea transport statistics display the precision required for the statistical data sets described in Annex VIII. The standards of accuracy shall be drawn up in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 13.

Article 6 - Processing of the results of the collection of data

Member States shall process the statistical information collected pursuant to Article 3, in order to obtain comparable statistics, with the standard of accuracy provided for in Article 5.

Article 7 - Transmission of the results of the collection of data

1. Member States shall transmit the results referred to in Article 3 to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, including the data declared confidential by the Member States pursuant to domestic legislation or practice concerning statistical confidentiality, in accordance with Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (1).

2. The results shall be transmitted in accordance with the structure of the statistical data sets defined in Annex VIII. The technical details for transmission of the results will be specified in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13.

3. The transmission of the results shall take place within five months of the end of the period of observation for data of quarterly periodicity and within eight months for data of annual periodicity.

The first transmission shall cover the first quarter of 1997.

Article 8 - Reports

1. Member States shall provide the Commission with all relevant information on the methods used in compiling the data. They shall also forward details of substantial changes in the methods used to collect the data.

2. After data have been collected over a period of three years, the Commission shall submit a report to the Council on experience acquired in the work carried out pursuant to this Directive.

Article 9 - Dissemination of statistical data

The Commission shall disseminate appropriate statistical data with a periodicity comparable to that of the results transmitted.

The arrangements for publication or dissemination of the statistical data by the Commission shall be adopted according to the procedure specified in Article 13.

Article 10 - Transitional period

1. During a transitional period of no more than three years, derogations may, in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 13, be granted pursuant to this Directive, in so far as the national statistical systems require major adaptation.

2. During the transitional period referred to in paragraph 1 a programme of pilot studies concerning the following shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 13:

(a) feasibility and the cost to Member States and the respondents of collecting the following items of information:

- description of the goods as defined in Annex III and in Annex VIII, data set B1,

- passengers transported over short distances,

- information concerning feeder services and transport chains,

- data relating to the nationality of the maritime transport operator;

(b) the possibility of collecting data under the arrangements concluded in the context of the simplification of trade procedures, the International Standards Organization (ISO), the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and international customs rules.

The Commission shall inform the Council of the outcome of the pilot studies and shall submit to it proposals on the possibility of extending the system introduced by this Directive to set up a regular collection of these items of information.

Article 11 - Financial contribution

1. For the first three years in which the statistical returns provided for in this Directive are made, Member States shall receive a financial contribution from the Community towards the cost of the work involved.

2. The amount of the appropriations allocated annually for the financial contribution referred to in paragraph 1 shall be fixed as part of the annual budgetary procedures.

3. The budget authority shall determine the appropriations available for each year.

Article 12 - Detailed rules of implementation

The detailed rules for implementing this Directive, including measures for adapting it to economic and technical developments, and in particular:

- adaptation of the data collection characteristics (Article 3) and of the content of the Annexes to this Directive in so far as such adaptation does not involve a substantial increase in cost for the Member States and/or the burden on respondents,

- a list of ports, updated on a regular basis by the Commission, coded and classified by country and maritime coastal area (Article 4),

- accuracy requirement (Article 5),

- the description of the composition of a data file and codes for transmission of the results to the Commission (Article 7),

- the arrangements for publication or dissemination of the data (Article 9),

- derogations from the provisions of this Directive to be granted during the transitional period, and the pilot studies scheduled (Article 10),

- the equivalent nomenclature in gross tonnage per group of vessels (Annex VII),

shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 13.

Article 13 - Procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee set up by Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom.

2. The Commission representative shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter in question. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty for the adoption of decisions which the Council is required to take on a proposal from the Commission. When votes are taken by the Committee, the votes of the representatives of the Member States shall be weighted as laid down in the above Article. The chairman shall not vote.

3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures, which shall apply immediately.

(b) However, if these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith.

In that event:

- the Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has decided for a period of three months from the date of such communication,

- the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different decision within the time limit referred to in the previous indent.

Article 14 - Implementation

1. The Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 January 1997 at the latest. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

The provisions adopted by the Member States shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference when published officially. The procedure for making this reference shall be laid down by the Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of domestic law which they adopt in the field governed by the Directive.

Article 15

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 16

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.