Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
To ensure safer sea journeys in Europe, the Council Presidency, Member States and European Parliament negotiators have reached an interim agreement to review the 2009 Directive on investigating accidents in the maritime transport sector. The new legislation forms part of the so-called “maritime safety” legislative package.

“We have worked hard to agree this proposal with Parliament in record time. Today’s agreement represents a milestone for safer and cleaner shipping in Europe while maintaining the competitiveness of our shipping sector,” according to a European statement in Brussels from Paul van Tijschelt, Deputy Prime Minister. The Belgian Minister of Justice, whose country holds the current rotating presidency of the Union

Main objectives of the revised directive
The revised directive aims to simplify and clarify the current system governing accident investigation in the maritime transport sector. Extending its scope to include larger fishing vessels, together with other changes relating to these vessels in the closely related Port State Control Directives and Flag State Requirements Directives, will improve the safety of fishing vessels in European waters.

More specifically, the new directive aims to:

Improved protection of fishing vessels, their crews and the environment, with fishing vessels over 15 meters in length now included within the scope of the Directive, meaning that incidents resulting in deaths and loss of vessels will be investigated in a systematic and coordinated way
Clarifying definitions and legal provisions so that accident investigation bodies in Member States can investigate all accidents that need to be investigated in a timely and coordinated manner
Strengthen the capacity of accident investigation bodies to conduct and report accident investigations in a timely, specialized and independent manner
Updated several definitions and references to relevant EU legislation and IMO regulations, to ensure clarity and consistency.
Key elements of the new legislation
Participating legislators maintained the general orientation of the committee's proposal. However, several amendments to the proposal were made to the text, with the aim of enabling accident investigation bodies to conduct accident investigations in a coordinated manner across the EU by making the existing rules clearer and more consistent with international regulations. Other amendments aim to strengthen provisions related to the independence of accident investigation bodies and the confidentiality of their findings, and to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens.

More specifically, the Interim Agreement covers, inter alia, the following aspects:

Alignment with the IMO Accident Investigation Code on the obligation to inform maritime security authorities if the accident investigation body suspects a crime
The provisions on conformity inspection have been amended in line with several other EU maritime legislation, such as the Marine Equipment Directive
A voluntary approach to the quality management system of national investigative authorities accompanied by guidelines for its implementation
A deadline of two months has been introduced for the initial assessment in the event of incidents involving small fishing vessels.
Overall, the revised Directive strikes a careful balance between the need to ensure a high standard of charging, on the one hand, and the need to protect the competitiveness of the European shipping sector, while also maintaining reasonable costs for operators. and administrations of member states.
The interim agreement will now have to be approved by participating lawmakers today before the final adoption of the legislative act. Member states will have 30 months after the amended directive enters into force to transpose its provisions into their national legislation.

The revised Directive forms part of the maritime safety package introduced by the Commission on 1 June 2023. The five legislative proposals, including those on pollution from ships, compliance with flag state requirements, port state control and EMSA, aim to modernize EU rules on maritime safety and reduce From water pollution from ships.

Since 75% of the European Union's external trade is transported by sea, maritime transport not only constitutes the lifeline of the global economy, but it is also a lifeline for the European Union's islands and peripheral and remote maritime areas. Although maritime safety in EU waters is currently very high, with few deaths and no recent major oil spills, more than 2,000 maritime accidents and accidents are still reported each year.

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