Marine equipment

The rapporteur, Mr Kaklamanis (UPE, GR), again presented the amendments relating to the independence and status of notified bodies responsible for the inspection of marine vessels, the need for such bodies to have access to compatible radio communications equipment and the subject of comitology. Commissioner Kinnock declared that he would accept Amendment No 1, as this would prevent the needless application of a number of similar measures to the same type of radio communications equipment without necessarily compromising safety levels. On the other hand, he called on Parliament to re-examine Amendment No 2, which was superfluous in that it repeated the provisions of Annex C relating to notified bodies responsible for the inspection of marine vessels. Finally, he rejected Amendment No 3 on comitology, since all measures relating to maritime safety were drawn up by the regulatory committees.