On 15 October, the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism published the draft report on the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation creating a European Maritime Single Window environment, which came out on 17 May.
The report focuses on the harmonisation of data elements and data sets, and supports the cooperation between customs and maritime authorities at both national and Union level. It also recognises that, even with a fully harmonised data set, relevant authorities might require additional data.
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Moreover, the draft report states that Member states should allow the use of port community systems, as long as those systems are then passing the necessary information to the National Single Window.
What is more, the report underlines the importance to provide National Single Windows with a governance dimension and takes a realistic approach concerning the reporting only once principle.
According to ESPO, this draft shows a clear ambition to move towards further harmonisation, as it will oblige all stakeholders, including port authorities, to take serious measures.
It also recognises the initiatives and investments that have already taken place or being developed to achieve a more efficient reporting environment for ships.
We believe this draft report further improves the Commission’s draft proposal. The draft report is a solid basis for further discussions. We support the main lines and hope that it can be supported by the Transport committee.
Nevertheless, ESPO also mentioned that it remains concerned about the development of a harmonised reporting interface module for the National Single Windows. It specifically fears that such a solution will not be flexible to respond to fast moving technological developments in the field.
The draft report will be discussed in the Transport Committee on 5 November.
You can see EU’s draft report in the following PDF