Today the European Commission presented five proposals legislation on maritime safety and prevention marine pollution caused by ships with a view to further improve EU rules and bring them into line with regulations International. The proposals on maritime safety mean set clear requirements based on international standards for inspections carried out as part of the control activity of the port State, as well as providing for specific training provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to national administrations in order to strengthen the controls carried out by the authorities of the Member States exercise over their fleets. It is It is also planned to facilitate the exchange of information between flag States on the results of inspections carried out and, in general, on compliance issues. EMSA will support this cooperation through an updated training program and professional development for inspectors in the State of flag.

In addition, port state control will be extended to cover additional international standards, such as the new Ballast water and sediment conventions and removal of flotsam. The proposal also updates the way ships are subject to inspection, to reflect the new requirements and, in the determine their risk profile, will attribute greater importance to the environmental performance and shortcomings of ships. Other changes are intended to further improve the Member States' ability to detect and correct failure to comply with safety and the rules and standards of prevention of pollution and protection of the environment.

The scope of port State control and accident investigations will be extended to fishing vessels, category of ships – recalled the EU Commission presenting their proposals – in which considerable persist security issues. The proposal provides that Member States can choose to apply port State control fishing vessels over 24 metres in length calling at the EU ports. At the same time, for the most serious accidents involving smaller vessels in length less than 15 metres, Member States should report them and analyze them to draw possible lessons.

Flag State and State control operations of landing will be digitized and the dissemination of electronic certificates. This will be rendered possible in particular thanks to IT systems and banks EFSA data. The proposal also provides that national bodies accident investigation receive further support from EMSA, and which, on request, is made available to the bodies a pool of experts from different disciplines, as well as specialized tools and equipment.

To increase the prevention of illegal discharges into the seas European standards, the Commission then proposes to align the rules of the European Union to international ones and to extend their Scope to cover a wider range of Pollutants. In particular, in addition to illegal dumping of hydrocarbons and noxious liquid substances, covered by the standards The Commission proposes to include discharges of harmful substances transported in packaged form, sewage, waste, as well as waste water and residues from waste systems Exhaust gas cleaning (scrubber).

Among the proposals there is also the optimization of the service CleanSeaNet satellite, the surveillance database and sharing of EMSA information, with the introduction of Information sharing and follow-up obligations the national authorities responsible for detection, and verification of potential pollution. The objective of the enhancement of the system is to facilitate the application timely and cooperation between Member States in the event of Transboundary accidents due to pollution caused by ships.

A strengthening of the legal framework is also envisaged, in order to enable national authorities to adopt appropriate measures in case of illegal dumping and to impose sanctions. The proposal provides for minimum criteria for effective application administrative penalties, such as the seriousness of the discharge illegal, its impact on the environment or robustness financial of the entity responsible for the unlawful act.

The proposal includes the updating of EMSA's mandate to in order to better reflect the growing role that the Agency plays in many sectors of maritime transport, including safety, pollution prevention and environmental protection, climate action, security, surveillance and management crisis and digitalisation, including new tasks of Safety and sustainability resulting from this package legislative. It is envisaged, for example, that the Commission and the Member States rely on EMSA support in the implementation of the FuelEU Maritime Regulation and the extension of the trading system of EU emission allowances to maritime transport. The Agency It will also continue to assist the Commission and the Member States. Members in the field of maritime surveillance, resilience cybersecurity and crisis preparedness and will a significant role in simplifying relations between Member States through the use of IT tools, continuing at the same time to provide training and capacity building for the administrations of the Member States.