European Maritime Safety Agency

The European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution approving the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime Safety Agency and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002.

The proposed regulation establishes the European Maritime Safety Agency, which will assist Member States and the Commission in the effective application and implementation of Union law relating to maritime transport throughout the Union.

Objectives

The EMSA’s objective is the promotion and establishment of a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety aiming towards zero accidents, maritime security, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships and the sustainability of the maritime sector as well as the prevention of and response to pollution caused by ships and the response to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installation.

The Agency's other objectives include supporting the digitalisation and reduction of the administrative burden in the maritime sector by facilitating the electronic transmission of data and supporting the simplification and provision of integrated maritime surveillance and maritime situational awareness systems and services to the Commission and Member States.

Agency’s tasks

The Agency will:

- monitor progress on the safety of maritime transport in the Union, conduct risk analyses on the basis of the available data and develop safety risk assessment models to identify safety challenges and risks;

- in a cost-efficient way, support the Member States with additional pollution response operational means, including those to be developed for sustainable alternative fuels, for pollution caused by ships and for marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations;

- provide technical assistance to the Commission and Member States with regard to operational and technical measures as well as regulatory efforts aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships;

- assist the Commission and Member States by providing technical guidance and facilitating the exchange of best practices and information on cyber resilience and cybersecurity incidents between Member States;

- provide the Commission and Member States with state-of-the-art maritime surveillance and maritime crisis services.

The regulation also assigns the Agency other tasks in the area of international relations and European cooperation concerning coast guard functions.

To properly carry out the tasks entrusted to the Agency, officials will carry out visits to the Member States in order to monitor the overall functioning of the Union maritime safety and pollution prevention system. The Agency will also carry out inspections in order to assist the Commission in the assessment of the effective implementation of Union law.

Agency organisation

The Agency's administrative and management structure consists of a management board and an executive director.

The management board is composed of one representative from each Member State and four representatives from the Commission, all with voting rights. It also includes four professionals from the sectors most relevant to the Agency's objectives.

The management board will adopt each year, by a two-thirds majority of its members with voting rights, after having received the opinion of the Commission, the Agency's single programming document.

No later than 30 November of each year, the Management Board adopts a single programming document containing the annual and multiannual programming, based on a draft submitted by the Executive Director, taking into account the opinion of the Commission. The Management Board will submit it to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.