Statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea

KEY POINTS

The data

• These statistical data relate to cargo and passenger information and to information on the vessel itself. The annexes to this directive specify the characteristics of the data collection, including:
  • gross weight and description of goods;
  • reporting port;
  • type of cargo classification;
  • number of passengers;
  • type and size of vessels.
• Vessels with a gross tonnage of under 100 tonnes may be excluded from the data collection.

Collection

• The European Commission is responsible for drawing up a list of all EU ports for which summary data are to be provided. In addition, each EU country must select from this list any port which:
  • handles more than one million tonnes of goods; or
  • records more than 200,000 passenger movements annually.
• These selected ports are then subject to a more detailed data collection.

Transmitting the data

• EU countries must transmit the results of the collection to the Commission (Eurostat):
  • within 5 months of the end of the period of observation for data collected quarterly;
  • within 8 months for data collected annually.
• EU countries must inform Eurostat of the methods used to compile the data, as well as details of any substantial changes in the methods used. Eurostat must then publish the appropriate statistics collected.
• The directive was amended by Regulation (EU) No 1090/2010 in order to bring data collection on goods transported by seagoing vessels into line with other modes of transport.
• Decision 2010/216/EU amended some technical characteristics in relation to the data collection, including the codes to be used for the nationality of the registration of vessels and the structure for data sets.
• Decision 2012/186/EU amended some of the statistical variables used in the data collection and clarified some definitions and types of cargo classification.