91997E1906

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1906/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (4 June 1997)

Subject: Dangerous goods - vessels

With reference to the 'Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 93/75/EEC concerning minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods' (COM(96) 0455 final - 96/0231 SYN) ((OJ C 334, 8.11.1996, p. 11. )),

will the Commission ensure that Directive 93/75/EEC ((OJ L 247, 5.10.1993, p. 19. )), as amended by the proposal for a directive in question, is applied not only to vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and anchored in the territorial waters of an EU Member State, but also to all vessels in transit in those territorial waters?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (9 July 1997)

The Commission agrees that the existing notification requirements applicable to ships bound for or leaving Community ports under Directive 93/75/EEC should be extended to cover ships in transit off the coasts of Member States.

However, the Commission believes that this extension should not be introduced through modification of the existing Directive 93/75/EEC, since notification by ships in transit is already the main objective of the proposal for a Council directive concerning the setting-up of a European ship reporting system (Eurorep), adopted by the Commission on 17th December 1993 ((COM(93) 647 modified by COM(94) 220 final - OJ C 193, 16.7.1994. )). This proposal is still on the table of the Council.