THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Directive 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on safety of offshore oil and gas operations and amending Directive 2004/35/EC, and in particular Articles 23(2) and 24(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Member States are required to ensure that operators and owners of offshore oil and gas installations provide the competent authority, as a minimum, with the data on major hazard indicators as specified in Annex IX to Directive 2013/30/EU. That information should enable Member States to provide advanced warning of the potential deterioration of safety and environmentally critical barriers, and should enable them to take preventive action, including in light of their obligations under Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and the Council (Marine Strategy Framework Directive).
(2)
The information should also demonstrate the overall effectiveness of measures and controls implemented by individual operators and owners, and the industry as a whole, to prevent major accidents and to minimise risks for the environment. In addition, the information and data provided should ensure that the performance of individual operators and owners can be compared within the Member State and the performance of the industry as a whole can be compared between Member States.
(3)
The sharing of comparable data between Member States is rendered difficult and unreliable due to the lack of a common data reporting format across all Member States. A common format for the reporting of data by operators and owners to the Member State should provide transparency of the safety and environmental performance of operators and owners and should provide Union-wide comparable information on safety of offshore oil and gas operations and should facilitate dissemination of lessons learned from major accidents and near misses.
(4)
To facilitate public confidence in the authority and integrity of offshore oil and gas operations in the Union, Member States should periodically publish the information referred to in point 2 of Annex IX of Directive 2013/30/EU pursuant to Article 24 of Directive 2013/30/EU. A common format and details of information to be made publicly available by the Member States should enable easy cross-border comparison of data.
(5)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Advisory Committee on Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: