The Transport Committee voted today on the proposal for a directive on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States of the Community which aims at simplifying rules and procedure to establish a real European maritime transport space without barriers exploiting new electronic technologies. Maritime transport has been penalised for too long, making it less competitive despite being one of the most environmentally friendly modes of transport, by complex administrative procedures within the EU.

Dirk Sterckx (OpenVLD, BE), ALDE Member in the Transport Committee and rapporteur welcomed the backing of the Transport Committee to his report.

Sterckx added to the Commission's proposal to set a single common language to avoid undesirable delays and misunderstandings as foreseen already by the international Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea: "The committee agreed with having the reference to English in the text. Having a common language is necessary for many reasons: for example for improving safety and efficiency. Mentioning the most widely used language in the maritime sector is just a logical next step"

"Another point that I welcome is the vote of the committee to keep 2013 as deadline. As maritime transport is still less attractive than other transport modes, it would be good to have the directive implemented by 2013, so that administrative formalities and therefore extra costs can be reduced." Sterckx concluded.