in the preparatory work for updating and developing relevant legal acts of the Union, in particular in line with the development of international legislation;

in the effective implementation of relevant binding legal acts of the Union, in particular by carrying-out visits and inspections as referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation and by providing technical assistance to the Commission in the performance of the inspection tasks assigned to it pursuant to Article 9(4) of Regulation (EC) No 725/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on enhancing ship and port facility security ( 1 ). In this regard, it may address suggestions to the Commission for any possible improvements of those binding legal acts;

in the analysis of ongoing and completed research projects relevant to the objectives of the Agency; this may include the identification of possible follow-up measures resulting from specific research projects;

in the performance of any other task assigned to the Commission in legislative acts of the Union regarding the objectives of the Agency.

organise, where appropriate, relevant training activities in fields which are the responsibility of the Member States;

develop technical solutions, including the provision of relevant operational services, and provide technical assistance, to the building up of the necessary national capacity for the implementation of relevant legal acts of the Union;

provide, at the request of a Member State, appropriate information resulting from the inspections referred to in Article 3 in order to support the monitoring of the recognised organisations that carry out certification tasks on behalf of the Member States in accordance with Article 9 of Directive 2009/15/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations and for the relevant activities of maritime administrations ( 2 ) without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the flag State;

support with additional means in a cost efficient way pollution response actions in case of pollution caused by ships as well as marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations, when a request has been presented by the affected Member State under the authority of which the cleaning operations are conducted, without prejudice to the responsibility of coastal States to have appropriate pollution response mechanisms in place while respecting existing cooperation between Member States in this field. As appropriate, requests for mobilisation of anti-pollution actions shall be relayed through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism established by Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom ( 3 ).

in the field of traffic monitoring covered by Directive 2002/59/EC, the Agency shall in particular promote cooperation between riparian States in the shipping areas concerned, as well as develop and operate the European Union Long-Range Identification and Tracking of Ships European Data Centre and the Union Maritime Information and Exchange System (SafeSeaNet) as referred to in Articles 6b and 22a of that Directive as well as the International Long-Range Identification and Tracking information data exchange system in accordance with the commitment made in the International Maritime Organisation (‘IMO’);

by providing, upon request and without prejudice to national and Union law, relevant vessel positioning and Earth observation data to the competent national authorities and relevant Union bodies within their mandate in order to facilitate measures against threats of piracy and of intentional unlawful acts as provided for in applicable Union law or under internationally agreed legal instruments in the area of maritime transport, subject to applicable data protection rules and in accordance with administrative procedures to be established by the Administrative Board or the High Level Steering Group established in accordance with Directive 2002/59/EC, as appropriate. The provision of long-range identification and tracking of ships data shall be subject to the consent of the flag State concerned;

in the field of the investigation of marine casualties and incidents in accordance with Directive 2009/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector ( 4 ); the Agency shall, if requested by the relevant Member States and assuming that no conflict of interest arises, provide operational support to these Member States concerning investigations related to serious or very serious casualties and it shall carry out analysis of safety investigation reports with a view to identify added value at Union level in terms of any relevant lessons to be drawn. On the basis of data provided by the Member States, in accordance with Article 17 of that Directive, the Agency shall compile a yearly overview of marine casualties and incidents;

in providing objective, reliable and comparable statistics, information and data, to enable the Commission and the Member States to take the necessary steps to improve their actions and to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of existing measures. Such tasks shall include the collection, recording and evaluation of technical data, the systematic exploitation of existing databases, including their cross-fertilisation, and, where appropriate, the development of additional databases. On the basis of the data collected, the Agency shall assist the Commission in the publication of information relating to ships pursuant to Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on port State control ( 5 );

in gathering and analysing data on seafarers provided and used in accordance with Directive 2008/106/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the minimum level of training of seafarers ( 6 );

in improving the identification and pursuit of ships making unlawful discharges in accordance with Directive 2005/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties for infringements ( 7 );

regarding marine oil pollution caused by oil and gas installations, by using the European Satellite Oil Monitoring Service (CleanSeaNet) to monitor the extent and environmental impact of such pollution;

in providing technical assistance necessary for the Member States and the Commission to contribute to the relevant work of the technical bodies of the IMO, the International Labour Organisation as far as shipping is concerned, and the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (‘Paris MoU’) and relevant regional organisations to which the Union has acceded, with regard to matters of Union competence;

with regard to the implementation of Directive 2010/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States ( 8 ), in particular by facilitating the electronic transmission of data through SafeSeaNet and by supporting the development of the single window.

create substantiated added value;

avoid duplication of efforts;

be in the interest of the Union maritime transport policy;

not be detrimental to the Agency’s core tasks; and

not infringe upon Member States’ rights and obligations, in particular as flag States, port States and coastal States.

in the context of the implementation of Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) ( 9 ), by contributing to the objective of achieving good environmental status of marine waters with its shipping-related elements and in exploiting the results of existing tools such as SafeSeaNet and CleanSeaNet;

providing technical assistance in relation to greenhouse gas emissions from ships, in particular in following up ongoing international developments;

as concerns the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme (GMES), in promoting the use of GMES data and services for maritime purposes, within the GMES governance framework;

in the development of a Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU maritime domain;

with respect to mobile offshore oil and gas installations, in examining IMO requirements and in gathering basic information on potential threats to maritime transport and the marine environment;

by providing relevant information with regard to classification societies for inland waterway vessels in accordance with Directive 2006/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels ( 10 ). This information shall also be part of the reports referred to in Article 3(4) and (5) of this Regulation.

in the examination of the feasibility and the implementation of policies and projects supporting the establishment of the European Maritime Transport Space without Barriers, such as the Blue Belt concept and e-Maritime, as well as Motorways of the Sea. This shall be done in particular by exploring additional functionalities to SafeSeaNet, without prejudice to the role of the High Level Steering Group established in accordance with Directive 2002/59/EC;

by exploring with competent authorities for the River Information Services System the possibility of sharing information between this system and maritime transport information systems on the basis of the report provided for in Article 15 of Directive 2010/65/EU;

by facilitating voluntary exchange of best practices in maritime training and education in the Union and by providing information on Union exchange programmes relevant to maritime training while fully respecting Article 166 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ( TFEU).

sharing, fusing and analysing information available in ship reporting systems and other information systems hosted by or accessible to those agencies, in accordance with their respective legal bases and without prejudice to the ownership of data by Member States;

providing surveillance and communication services based on state-of-the-art technology, including space-based and ground infrastructure and sensors mounted on any kind of platform;

building capacity by drawing up guidelines and recommendations and by establishing best practices as well as by providing training and exchange of staff;

enhancing the exchange of information and cooperation on coast guard functions including by analysing operational challenges and emerging risks in the maritime domain;

sharing capacity by planning and implementing multipurpose operations and by sharing assets and other capabilities, to the extent that these activities are coordinated by those agencies and are agreed to by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned.

appoint the Executive Director pursuant to Article 16;

adopt the annual report on the Agency’s activities and forward it each year by 15 June to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Auditors and the Member States.

The Agency shall forward annually to the budgetary authority all information regarding the outcome of the evaluation procedures;

examine and approve, in the framework of the preparation of the work programme, requests for assistance to the Commission, as referred to in Article 2(2)(d), requests from Member States for technical assistance, as referred to in Article 2(3), and requests for technical assistance, as referred to in Article 2(5) as well as requests for assistance as referred to in Article 2a;

examine and adopt a multiannual strategy for the Agency for a period of five years taking the written opinion of the Commission into account;

examine and adopt the multiannual staff policy plan of the Agency;

consider draft administrative arrangements, as referred to in Article 15(2)(ba);

adopt, by 30 November each year, and taking the opinion of the Commission into account, the work programme of the Agency for the coming year and forward it to the Member States, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission; this work programme shall be adopted without prejudice to the annual Community budgetary procedure. In the event that the Commission expresses, within 15 days from the date of adoption of the work programme, its disagreement with the said programme, the Administrative Board shall re-examine the programme and adopt it, possibly amended, within a period of two months, in second reading either with a two-thirds majority, including the Commission representatives, or by unanimity of the representatives of the Member States;

adopt the final budget of the Agency before the beginning of the financial year, adjusting it, where necessary, according to the Community contribution and any other revenue of the Agency;

establish procedures for decision-making by the Executive Director;

establish the methodology for the visits to be carried out pursuant to Article 3. In the event that the Commission expresses, within 15 days from the date of adoption of the methodology, its disagreement, the Administrative Board shall re-examine and adopt it, possibly amended, in second reading either with a two-thirds majority, including the Commission representatives, or by unanimity of the representatives of the Member States;

perform its duties in relation to the Agency’s budget pursuant to Articles 18, 19 and 21 and monitor and ensure adequate follow-up to the findings and recommendations stemming from various audit reports and evaluations, whether internal or external;

exercise disciplinary authority over the Executive Director and the Heads of Department referred to in Article 16;

establish its rules of procedure;

adopt, following the procedures set out in (d), a detailed plan for the Agency's pollution preparedness and response activities, aiming at the optimum use of the financial means available to the Agency;

review the financial execution of the detailed plan referred to in point (k) of this paragraph and the budgetary commitments provided for in Regulation (EC) No 2038/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on multiannual funding for the action of the European Maritime Safety Agency in the field of response to pollution caused by ships ( 17 );

appoint an observer from amongst its members to follow the selection procedure by the Commission for the appointment of the Executive Director.

he/she shall prepare the multiannual strategy of the Agency and submit it to the Administrative Board after consultation of the Commission at least eight weeks before the relevant Administrative Board meeting, taking into account views and suggestions made by members of the Administrative Board;

he/she shall prepare the multiannual staff policy plan of the Agency and submit it to the Administrative Board after consultation of the Commission at least four weeks before the relevant Administrative Board meeting;

he/she shall prepare the annual work programme, with an indication of the expected human and financial resources allocated to each activity, and the detailed plan for the Agency’s pollution preparedness and response activities, and submit them to the Administrative Board after consultation of the Commission at least eight weeks before the relevant Board meeting, taking into account views and suggestions made by members of the Administrative Board. He/she shall take the necessary steps for their implementation. He/she shall respond to any requests for assistance from a Member State in accordance with Article 10(2)(c);

he/she shall decide to carry out the visits and inspections provided for in Article 3, after consultation of the Commission and following the methodology for visits established by the Administrative Board in accordance with Article 10(2)(g);

he/she may enter into administrative arrangements with other bodies working in the Agency’s fields of activities provided that the draft arrangement has been submitted for consultation to the Administrative Board and provided that the Administrative Board does not object within four weeks;

he/she shall take all necessary steps, including the adoption of internal administrative instructions and the publication of notices, to ensure the functioning of the Agency in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation;

he/she shall organise an effective monitoring system in order to be able to compare the Agency’s achievements with its objectives and tasks as laid down in this Regulation. To this end, he/she shall establish, in agreement with the Commission and the Administrative Board, tailored performance indicators allowing for an effective assessment of the results achieved. He/she shall ensure that the Agency’s organisational structure will be regularly adapted to the evolving needs within the available financial and human resources. On this basis the Executive Director shall prepare a draft general report each year and submit it for consideration by the Administrative Board. The report shall include a dedicated section concerning the financial execution of the detailed plan for the Agency’s pollution preparedness and response activities and give an update of the status of all actions funded under that plan. He/she shall establish regular evaluation procedures that meet recognised professional standards;

he/she shall exercise, in respect of the staff, the powers laid down in Article 6(2);

he/she shall draw up estimates of the Agency's revenue and expenditure, in accordance with Article 18, and shall implement the budget in accordance with Article 19.

a contribution from the Community;

possible contributions from any third country which participates in the work of the Agency in accordance with Article 17;

fees and charges for publications, training and/or any other services provided by the Agency.