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Ships entering and departing from EU ports will no longer be subject to complex, repetitive administrative formalities thanks to a new directive approved by Parliament on July 6. All member states will have to recognize a standard form and set up a shared electronic system for fast and easy exchange of information between ships and ports.
Harmonization and coordination of reporting formalities throughout the EU is the main objective of the new rules. With this aim in mind, EU members gave their backing to new rules on notification by ships before they enter ports. They also called on national governments to adopt laws to make relevant data available to other member states via the national SafeSeaNet systems. In addition, all reporting formalities should be accepted in electronic format by no later than June 1, 2015.
To monitor the effects of the new rules, the commissions are asked to report on the functioning of the directive 18 months after its entry into force, on progress achieved towards harmonization and coordination of reporting formalities and in particular on the possibility of extending simplification to cover inland waterway transport.
