Marine equipment

Adopting the report by Mr Nikitas KAKLAMANIS (UPE, EL), the European Parliament adopted the proposal for a directive with the following amendments: - the application of international test methods and standards for marine equipment should be harmonized in order to guarantee a high and uniform level of safety (the Commission was called on to ensure that application was harmonized); - certain concepts were redefined: "EU ship" (ship registered in and flying the flag of a Member State), "new ship", "testing standard" (standards adopted by several organizations, to which the European Parliament has added the European Committee for Standardization, in order to define test methods and results); - the interim period during which equipment for which certificates have been issued by a Member State in compliance with international conventions can also be placed on the market and put on board was limited; - the independence (financial, administrative etc. ) of marine equipment inspection agencies acting on behalf of Member States should be guaranteed; - test procedures should apply both to equipment manufactured in the Community and equipment from third countries; - it should be possible to check the conformity of equipment at several notified bodies which comply both with EN 45 000 and other specific requirements depending on the type of equipment being evaluated.�