Directive 2005/45 - Mutual recognition of seafarers' certificates issued by the Member States - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 255/160

In its conclusions of 5 June 2003 on improving the image of Community shipping and attracting young people to the seafaring profession, the Council highlighted the necessity of fostering the professional mobility of seafarers within the European Union, with particular emphasis on recognition procedures for seafarers' certificates of competency, while ensuring thorough compliance with the requirements of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (the STCW Convention) in its up to date version.

Maritime transport is an intensively and rapidly developing sector of a particularly international character. Accordingly, in view of the increasing shortage of Community seafarers, the balance between supply and demand in personnel can be maintained more efficiently at the Community, rather than the national level. It is therefore essential that the common transport policy in the field of maritime transport be extended to facilitate the movement of seafarers within the Community.

As regards seafarers' qualifications, the Community has laid down minimum maritime education, training and certification requirements by way of Directive 2001/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 April 2001 on the minimum level of training of seafarers (3). That Directive incorporates into Community law the international training, certification and watchkeeping standards laid down by the STCW Convention.

Directive 2001/25/EC provides that seafarers must hold a certificate of competency issued and endorsed by the competent authority of a Member State in accordance with that Directive and entitling the lawful holder thereof to serve on a ship in the capacity and perform the functions involved at the level of responsibility specified therein.

Under Directive 2001/25/EC, mutual recognition among Member States of certificates held by seafarers, whether or not nationals of a Member State, is subject to Directives 89/48/EEC (4) and 92/51/EEC (5) setting up, respectively, a first and a second general system for the recognition of professional education and training. Those Directives do not provide for the automatic recognition of formal qualifications of seafarers, as seafarers may be subject to compensation measures.

Each Member State should recognise any certificate and other evidence of formal qualifications issued by another Member State in accordance with Directive 2001/25/EC. Therefore, each Member State should permit a seafarer having acquired his/her certificate of competency in another Member State, satisfying the requirements of that Directive, to take up or to pursue the maritime profession for which he/she is qualified, without any prerequisites other than those imposed on its own nationals.

Since this Directive is aimed at facilitating the mutual recognition of certificates, it does not regulate the conditions concerning access to employment.

The STCW Convention specifies language requirements for seafarers. These requirements should be introduced into Community law to ensure effective communication on board ships and facilitate the free movement of seafarers within the Community.

Today, the proliferation of certificates of competency of seafarers obtained by fraud poses a serious danger to safety at sea and the protection of the marine environment. In most cases, holders of fraudulent certificates of competency do not meet the minimum certification requirements of the STCW Convention. These seafarers could easily be involved in maritime accidents.

Member States should therefore take and enforce specific measures to prevent and penalise fraudulent practices associated with certificates of competency as well as pursue their efforts within the IMO to achieve strict and enforceable agreements on the worldwide combating of such practices. The Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (COSS) is an appropriate forum for exchanging information, experience and best practices in this respect.

Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 (6), established a European Maritime Safety Agency (the Agency), for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety and prevention of pollution from ships. One of the tasks assigned to the Agency is to assist the Commission in the performance of any task assigned to it by Community legislation applicable to the training, certification and watchkeeping of ships' crews.

The Agency should therefore assist the Commission in verifying that Member States comply with the requirements laid down in this Directive and Directive 2001/25/EC.

The mutual recognition among Member States of certificates held by seafarers, whether or not nationals of a Member State, should no longer be subject to Directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC, but should be governed by this Directive.

Directive 2001/25/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

Since the objective of this Directive, namely the mutual recognition of the seafarers' certificates issued by the Member States, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

In accordance with paragraph 34 of the Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making (7), Member States are encouraged to draw up, for themselves and in the interest of the Community, their own tables, which will, as far as possible, illustrate the correlation between this Directive and their transposition measures, and to make those tables public,

nationals of a Member State;

non-nationals who hold a certificate issued by a Member State.

‘seafarer’ means a person who is trained and who is certificated by a Member State at least in accordance with the requirements laid down in Annex I to Directive 2001/25/EC;

‘certificate’ means a valid document within the meaning of Article 4 of Directive 2001/25/EC;

‘appropriate certificate’ means a certificate as defined in Article 1(27) of Directive 2001/25/EC;

‘endorsement’ means a valid document issued by the competent authority of a Member State in accordance with Article 5(2) and (6) of Directive 2001/25/EC;

‘recognition’ means the acceptance by the competent authorities of a host Member State of a certificate or appropriate certificate issued by another Member State;

‘host Member State’ means any Member State in which a seafarer seeks recognition of his/her appropriate certificate(s) or other certificate(s);

‘STCW Convention’ means the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, in its up-to-date version;

‘STCW Code’ means the Seafarers' Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code, as adopted by Resolution 2 of the 1995 STCW Conference of Parties, in its up-to-date version;

‘the Agency’ means the European Maritime Safety Agency, established by Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002.

Article 4 shall be replaced by:

‘Article 4

Certificate

A certificate shall be any valid document, by whatever name it may be known, issued by or under the authority of the competent authority of a Member State in accordance with Article 5 and with the requirements laid down in Annex I.’;

the following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 7a

Prevention of fraud and other unlawful practices

• 1. 

  Member States shall take and enforce the appropriate measures to prevent fraud and other unlawful practices involving the certification process or certificates issued and endorsed by their competent authorities, and shall provide for penalties that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

• 2. 

  Member States shall designate the national authorities competent to detect and combat fraud and other unlawful practices and exchange information with the competent authorities of other Member States and of third countries concerning the certification of seafarers.

Member States shall forthwith inform the other Member States and the Commission of the details of such competent national authorities.

Member States shall also forthwith inform any third countries with which they have entered into an undertaking in accordance with Regulation I/10, paragraph 1.2 of the STCW Convention of the details of such competent national authorities.

• 3. 

  At the request of a host Member State, the competent authorities of another Member State shall provide written confirmation or denial of the authenticity of seafarers' certificates, corresponding endorsements or any other documentary evidence of training issued in that other Member State.’;

Article 18(1) and (2) shall be deleted with effect from 20 October 2007;

The following Articles shall be inserted:

‘Article 21a

Regular monitoring of compliance

Without prejudice to the powers of the Commission under Article 226 of the Treaty, the Commission, assisted by the European Maritime Safety Agency, established by Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 (8), shall verify on a regular basis and at least every five years that Member States comply with the minimum requirements laid down by this Directive.

Article 21b

Compliance report

No later than 20 October 2010 the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council an evaluation report drawn up on the basis of the information obtained pursuant to Article 21a. In the report the Commission shall analyse the Member States' compliance with this Directive and, where necessary, make proposals for additional measures.

the following paragraph shall be inserted in Annex I, Chapter I:

‘1a.   Member States shall ensure that seafarers possess adequate language proficiency, as defined in Sections A-II/1, A-III/1, A-IV/2 and A-II/4 of the STCW Code so as to enable them to perform their specific duties on a vessel flying the flag of a host Member State.’