European Maritime Safety Agency

The Commission accepted the following parts of the Parliament's amendments: -the visibility of the Agency mission to prevent pollution originated from ships, which is highlighted by the change in the title. -the transparency and control over the management of the Community funding allocated to the Agency, in particular concerning the budgetisation of fees, financial control, power of discharge, pension scheme contributions and internal budgetary procedure. -the possibility that the Agency may act not only upon the exclusive request of the Commission in relation to assistance to be provided by the Agency to the candidate countries. -the efficiency of the Administrative Board of the Agency by securing a high degree of experience in the field of Maritime safety for Board Members, representing the Member States, the Commission and the relevant professional organisations. The term of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Administrative Board is extended to five years to equal the Executive Director. The increased competence of the Board in the appointment and dismissal of the executive Director and the possibility of meeting in extraordinary session following a specific request of the Parliament. -the transparency of the Agency reports regarding the results of the visits in the Member States, which will be made available to the Member States. -the independence of the Agency evaluation, which will be an external exercise to which the Commission will make available any relevant information. The evaluation will take place after five years and not after three years, and will not be repeated every five years. The Commission considers this to be unjustified and onerous. The Commission cannot accept the following amendments: -those which aim to decrease the Commission supervision of the Agency in the adoption of the work programme and the decisions on the visits to be effectuated by the Agency to the Member States. The Commission must be in agreement and not only consulted on such matters. -the amendments which relate to the way in which Agency visits to the Member States are made. Parliament's amendments are contradictory and would be counter-productive. -the amendment which eliminates the condition of impartiality of the Executive Director towards Member States or other bodies.�