Article 2

1. The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person or persons empowered to deposit the instrument of accession of the Union to the Athens Protocol in accordance with Articles 17(2)(c), 17(3) and 19 of that Protocol.

2. At the time of the deposit of the instrument of accession, the Union shall make the following declaration of competence:

‘1. Article 19 of the Athens Protocol of 2002 to the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974 provides that Regional Economic Integration Organisations which are constituted by sovereign States that have transferred competence over certain matters governed by that Protocol to them may sign it, on condition that they make the declaration referred to in that Article. The Union has decided to accede to the Athens Protocol and is accordingly making that declaration.

2. The current Members of the European Union are the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, Ireland, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Hungary, Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

3. This declaration is not applicable to the territories of the Member States of the European Union in which the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) does not apply and is without prejudice to such acts or positions as may be adopted under the Protocol by the Member States concerned on behalf of, and in the interests of, those territories.

4. The Member States of the European Union have conferred exclusive competence to the Union as regards measures adopted on the basis of Article 100 of the TFEU. Such measures have been adopted as regards Articles 1 and 1 bis, Article 2(2), Articles 3 to 16 and Articles 18, 20 and 21 of the Athens Convention as amended by the Athens Protocol and the provisions of the IMO Guidelines, by means of Regulation (EC) No 392/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the liability of carriers of passengers by sea in the event of accidents.

5. The exercise of competence which the Member States have transferred to the European Union pursuant to the TFEU is, by its nature, liable to continuous development. In the framework of the TFEU, the competent institutions may take decisions which determine the extent of the competence of the European Union. The European Union therefore reserves the right to amend this declaration accordingly, without this constituting a prerequisite for the exercise of its competence with regard to matters governed by the Athens Protocol. The European Union will notify the amended declaration to the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.’.

3. The person or persons designated under paragraph 1 of this Article shall make the reservation contained in the IMO Guidelines when depositing the instrument of accession of the Union to the Athens Protocol.