Port State Control: EC Acts against Poland and Spain

The European Commission says it will send reasoned opinions – the  last step before lodging a case to the Court of Justice – to Poland and Spain for failure to respect EU legislation on port state control of shipping.
The EC says that Poland and Spain have not yet implemented properly a 1995 Directive, amended following the Erika accident, which aims to reduce substandard shipping in EU waters. The directive promotes compliance with international and European legislation on maritime safety, establishes common criteria for control of ships by the port state and harmonizes procedures on inspection and detention.
The EC action was launched on the basis of the findings by European Maritime Safety Agency teams during inspection visits to member states. These visits are part of a monitoring programme by the Commission designed to assess how the Directive is implemented in practice in each Member State.