CHAPTER 2

UNION CERTIFICATES OF QUALIFICATION

Recognition
Article 10
1
Any Union certificate of qualification referred to in Articles 4 and 5, as well as any service record books or logbooks referred to in Article 22 that have been issued by the competent authorities in accordance with this Directive, shall be valid on all Union inland waterways.
2
Any certificate of qualification, service record book or logbook issued in accordance with the Regulations for Rhine Navigation Personnel, which lay down requirements that are identical to those of this Directive, shall be valid on all Union inland waterways.
Such certificates, service record books and logbooks that have been issued by a third country shall be valid on all Union inland waterways, provided that that third country recognises, within its jurisdiction, Union documents issued pursuant to this Directive.
3
Without prejudice to paragraph 2, any certificate of qualification, service record book or logbook that has been issued in accordance with the national rules of a third country laying down requirements that are identical to those of this Directive shall be valid on all Union inland waterways, subject to the procedure and the conditions set out in paragraphs 4 and 5.
4
Any third country may submit to the Commission a request for recognition of certificates, service record books or logbooks that have been issued by its authorities. The request shall be accompanied by all information necessary to determine whether the issuing of such documents is subject to requirements that are identical to those laid down in this Directive.
5
Upon receiving a request for recognition pursuant to paragraph 4, the Commission shall carry out an assessment of the certification systems in the requesting third country in order to determine whether the issuing of the certificates, service record books or logbooks specified in its request is subject to requirements that are identical to those laid down in this Directive.
If those requirements are found to be identical, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts granting recognition in the Union to the certificates, record books or logbooks issued by that third country, subject to that third country recognising within its jurisdiction Union documents issued pursuant to this Directive.
When adopting the implementing act referred to in the second subparagraph of this paragraph, the Commission shall specify to which documents, referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, the recognition applies. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 33(3).
6
When a Member State considers that a third country no longer complies with the requirements of this Article, it shall notify the Commission immediately, giving substantiated reasons for its contention.
7
Every eight years, the Commission shall assess the compliance of the certification system in the third country referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 5 with the requirements laid down in this Directive. If the Commission determines that the requirements laid down in this Directive are no longer met, paragraph 8 shall apply.
8
If the Commission determines that the issuing of documents referred to in paragraphs 2 or 3 of this Article is no longer subject to identical requirements to those laid down in this Directive, it shall adopt implementing acts suspending the validity on all Union inland waterways of the certificates of qualification, service record books and logbooks issued in accordance with these requirements. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 33(3).
The Commission may at any time rescind the suspension, if the identified shortcomings as regards the standards applied have been resolved.
9
The Commission shall make the list of third countries referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 publicly available, together with the documents which are recognised as valid on all Union inland waterways.