Directive 2005/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

Article 4 Amendments to Directive 2001/25/EC

Directive 2001/25/EC is hereby amended as follows:

1.

Article 4 shall be replaced by:

‘Article 4 Certificate

A certificate shall be any valid document, by whatever name it may be known, issued by or under the authority of the competent authority of a Member State in accordance with Article 5 and with the requirements laid down in Annex I.’;

2.

the following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 7a Prevention of fraud and other unlawful practices

1. Member States shall take and enforce the appropriate measures to prevent fraud and other unlawful practices involving the certification process or certificates issued and endorsed by their competent authorities, and shall provide for penalties that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

2. Member States shall designate the national authorities competent to detect and combat fraud and other unlawful practices and exchange information with the competent authorities of other Member States and of third countries concerning the certification of seafarers.

Member States shall forthwith inform the other Member States and the Commission of the details of such competent national authorities.

Member States shall also forthwith inform any third countries with which they have entered into an undertaking in accordance with Regulation I/10, paragraph 1.2 of the STCW Convention of the details of such competent national authorities.

3. At the request of a host Member State, the competent authorities of another Member State shall provide written confirmation or denial of the authenticity of seafarers' certificates, corresponding endorsements or any other documentary evidence of training issued in that other Member State.’;

3.

Article 18(1) and (2) shall be deleted with effect from 20 October 2007;

4.

The following Articles shall be inserted:

‘Article 21a Regular monitoring of compliance

Without prejudice to the powers of the Commission under Article 226 of the Treaty, the Commission, assisted by the European Maritime Safety Agency, established by Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002(1), shall verify on a regular basis and at least every five years that Member States comply with the minimum requirements laid down by this Directive.

Article 21b Compliance report

No later than 20 October 2010 the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council an evaluation report drawn up on the basis of the information obtained pursuant to Article 21a. In the report the Commission shall analyse the Member States' compliance with this Directive and, where necessary, make proposals for additional measures.’;

5.

the following paragraph shall be inserted in Annex I, Chapter I:

‘1a. Member States shall ensure that seafarers possess adequate language proficiency, as defined in Sections A-II/1, A-III/1, A-IV/2 and A-II/4 of the STCW Code so as to enable them to perform their specific duties on a vessel flying the flag of a host Member State.’

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2002 establishing a European Maritime Safety Agency (OJ L 208, 5.8.2002, p. 1). Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 724/2004 (OJ L 129, 29.4.2004, p. 1).’;