CHAPTER 3

CERTIFICATION OF PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
SECTION IV

Navigation time and medical fitness

Service record book and logbook
Article 22
1
The Member States shall ensure that boatmasters record navigation time, referred to in point (b) of Article 11(1), and journeys carried out, referred to in Article 20(1), in a service record book as referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article or in a service record book recognised pursuant to Article 10(2) or (3).
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, when Member States apply Article 7(1) or Article 39(2), the obligation laid down in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall apply only if a holder of a service record book requests the recording.
2
The Member States shall ensure that, if a crew member so requests, their competent authorities, after having verified the authenticity and validity of any necessary documentary evidence, validate in the service record book the data regarding navigation time and journeys carried out up to 15 months before the request. Where electronic tools are put in place, including electronic service record books and electronic logbooks, including appropriate procedures for safeguarding the authenticity of the documents, the corresponding data may be validated without additional procedures.
Navigation time that has been acquired on any of the Member States’ inland waterways shall be taken into consideration. In the case of inland waterways whose courses are not fully within Union territory, the navigation time acquired on sections located outside the Union territory shall also be taken into consideration.
3
Member States shall ensure that the journeys of craft referred to in Article 2(1) are recorded in the logbook referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article or in a logbook recognised pursuant to Articles 10(2) or (3).
4
The Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing models for service record books and logbooks, taking into account the information required for the implementation of this Directive as regards the identification of the person, their navigation time and the journeys carried out. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 33(2).
When adopting those implementing acts, the Commission shall take into account the fact that the logbook is also used in the implementation of Council Directive 2014/112/EU , for verifying manning requirements and recording journeys of the craft.
5
The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council an assessment of tamper-proof electronic service record books, logbooks and professional cards that incorporate Union certificates of qualification in inland navigation, by 17 January 2026.
6
Member States shall ensure that crew members hold a single active service record book and that there is a single active logbook on the craft.

Medical fitness
Article 23
1
Member States shall ensure that deck crew members who apply for a Union certificate of qualification demonstrate their medical fitness by presenting to the competent authority a valid medical certificate issued by a medical practitioner who is recognised by the competent authority, based on the successful completion of a medical fitness examination.
2
The applicants shall present a medical certificate to the competent authority when applying for
a
their first Union certificate of qualification as a deck crew member;
b
their Union certificate of qualification as a boatmaster;
c
the renewal of their Union certificate of qualification as a deck crew member in case the conditions specified in paragraph 3 of this Article are met.
Medical certificates issued for the purpose of obtaining a Union certificate of qualification shall be dated no earlier than three months before the date of the application for a Union certificate of qualification.
3
From the age of 60, the holder of a Union certificate of qualification as a deck crew member shall demonstrate medical fitness in accordance with paragraph 1 at least every five years. From the age of 70, the holder shall demonstrate medical fitness in accordance with paragraph 1 every two years.
4
Member States shall ensure that employers, boatmasters and Member States authorities are able to require a deck crew member to demonstrate medical fitness in accordance with paragraph 1 whenever there are objective indications that that deck crew member no longer fulfils the medical fitness requirements referred to in paragraph 6.
5
Where medical fitness cannot be fully demonstrated by the applicant, Member States may impose mitigation measures or restrictions that provide equivalent navigation safety. In that case, those mitigation measures and restrictions related to medical fitness shall be mentioned in the Union certificate of qualification in accordance with the model referred to in Article 11(3).
6
The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 31 on the basis of the essential requirements for medical fitness referred to in Annex III to supplement this Directive by laying down the standards for medical fitness that specify the requirements with regards to medical fitness, in particular with regard to the tests that medical practitioners must carry out, the criteria they must apply to determine fitness for work, and the list of restrictions and mitigation measures.
Council Directive 2014/112/EU of 19 December 2014 implementing the European Agreement concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time in inland waterway transport, concluded by the European Barge Union (EBU), the European Skippers Organisation (ESO) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) (OJ L 367, 23.12.2014, p. 86).