The legal status of the port state within the European Union. Comparative and jurisprudential aspects
| Autor | Dimitris Liakopoulos |
| Cargo | Full Professor of European Union Law, Fletcher School-Tufts University. |
| Páginas | 99-157 |
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Revista de Derecho del Transporte
N.º 23 (2019): 99-157
* Fecha de recepción del trabajo: 28/10/2018. Fecha de aceptación del trabajo: 19/02/2019.
** Full Professor of European Union Law at the Fletcher School-Tufts University (MA in internation-
al law and MA of Arts in Law and diplomacy). Full Professor of International and European Criminal and
Procedural Law at the De Haagse Hogenschool-The Hague. Attorney at Law at New York and Bruxelles.
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1048-6468. The present work is updated until October 2018.
THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE PORT STATE WITHIN
THE EUROPEAN UNION. COMPARATIVE
AND JURISPRUDENTIAL ASPECTS *
Dimitris Liakopoulos **
Full Professor of European Union Law
Fletcher School-Tufts University
ABSTRACT
The present work is based on the analysis of the legal regime of the port ac-
cording to the rules of the European Union compared to those of international
law with a comparative method to all «subjects» that include the law of the sea
and the protection of the global marine environment. In the Geneva Conventions
on the Law of the Sea of 1958, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea provided a definition of the «port State». The analysis will not concern
the legal status of the port State in a context of international conflict, regardless
of whether foreign ships are involved in hostilities or otherwise neutral, nor on
issues related to the possible international responsibility of the declining state
from the violation of international obligations by the competent internal port
authorities. The complex issue relating to the liberalization of the port services
market and therefore to the applicable competition law in the European Union
does not pertain to this issue.
Keywords: Law of the sea, legal status of port, Port State Control, international
law, European Union law.
SUMMARY: I. INTRODUCTION.—II. THE AFFIRMATION OF AN AUTONOMOUS REGIME OF CONTROL OF THE
PORT STATE WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION.—III. DIRECTIVE 2013/38/EC AND THE DISCIPLINE ON THE
CONTROL OF THE PORT STATE.—IV. EUROPEAN MARITIME SAFETY AGENCY (EMSA): MONITORING
AND ASSISTANCE.—V. DIRECTIVE 2013/38/EC AND THE CONTROL OF THE PORT STATE IN THE MARI-
TIME SAFETY REGULATIONS.—VI. RETURN TO THE PORT STATE CONTROL PROVIDED FOR IN INTER-
NATIONAL CONVENTIONS.—VII. SAFETY AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF SEAFARERS: AUTONOMOUS
CONTROL REGIMES.—VIII. (FOLLOWS) IN THE FIELD OF IUU FISHING.—IX. THE PREPARATION OF PORT
FACILITIES FOR THE COLLECTION OF WASTE AND RESIDUES FROM SHIPS.—X. ILLICIT SHIPMENTS
AND ENFORCEMENT POWERS.—XI. PARTICIPATION IN INVESTIGATIONS INTO CLAIMS OR MARITIME
ACCIDENTS.—XII. THE CONTRIBUTION TO SAFEGUARDING SECURITY.—XIII. REGIONAL MEASURES
OF THE PORT STATE.—XIV. ESTABLISHMENT AND EVOLUTION OF PORT STATE CONTROL.—XV. TEND-
ING TO DIVERSIFY THE FORMS OF INTERVENTION OF THE PORT STATE.—XVI. (FOLLOWS) RECRUIT-
MENT OF OBLIGATIONS AND/OR DUTIES.—XVII. A STATE OF THE PORT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROTECT-
ING COMMON INTERESTS?
DIMITRIS LIAKOPOULOS
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I. INTRODUCTION
Maritime transport in the European Union region shows today an important
and constant risk of polluting phenomena to which it is subject, as demonstrated
by the high number of past marine accidents 1. The first European Union legisla-
tion on maritime safety 2, dating back to the late 1970s, urged the Member States
to ratify the relevant international conventions and fulfill their international obli-
gations, set the conditions for entry into or exit from community ports for tank-
ers and set up an information system related to the reduction and control of
oil pollution 3. The gravity assumed by the phenomenon of ships lower than the
standards, partly due to partial or ineffective application of the Paris MoU, and
the clamor caused by some maritime accidents, such as that of the Aegean Sea
oil tankers in December 1992 4, off Spain, and Braer in January 1993 5, prompted
1 As an example we will remember that of the Amoco Cadiz of 1978, of the Braer in 1993, of the Sea
Empress in 1996, of the Erika in 1999, of the Prestige in 2002. In 2010 alone, 644 boats were involved
in accidents caused by sinking, stranding, collision, explosion or fire or other causes, which in any case
indicates a tendency to improve with respect to the 762 units involved in 2007; the majority of accidents
occurred between 2007 and 2010 occurred along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and
the English Channel and, for the remaining part, in the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the Baltic
Sea. Commission of the European Communities, «Towards a Future Maritime Policy for the Union: A
European Vision for the Oceans and Seas» (Green Paper), volume II, COM (2006) 275 Final, 7.6.2006,
Brussels. T. koiVuroVa, «Integrated maritime policy of the European Union: Challenges, successes, and
lessons to learn, coastal management», in Coastal Management, 40 (2), 2012, pp. 164 ss.
2 L. cox, «The advent and future of international port security law», in National Security Law Jour-
nal, 1 (1), 2013.
3 See, Council Recommendation 78/584/EEC of 26 June 1978 concerning the ratification of con-
ventions on the safety of maritime transport, in GUCE L 194 of 19.07.1978, pp. 17-18; Council Rec-
ommendation 79/114/EEC of 21 December 1978 on the ratification of the International Convention of
1978 on standards for training, certification and on-call duty for seafarers, in GUCE L 33 of 8.2.1979,
pp. 31-31; Council Recommendation 79/487/EEC of 15 May 1979 on the ratification of the Interna-
tional Convention for Safe Containers (CSC), in GUCE L 125 of 22.5.1979, p. 18; Council Recommen-
dation 80/907/EEC of 23 September 1980 on the ratification of the 1977 Torremolinos International
Convention on the Safety of Fishing Vessels in GUCE L 259 of 2.10.1980, p. 29; Council Directive
79/116/EEC of 21 December 1978 concerning minimum requirements for certain tankers entering
or leaving community ports, OJ L 33, 8.2.1979, pp. 33-35, no longer in force, Date of end of validity:
13/09/1995; see for the analysis of the above Directive: H. RINGBOM, European Union maritime
safety policy and internatonal law, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, 2008, pp. 523 ss. The Decision
81/971/EEC: Council Decision of 3 December 1981 establishing a community information system for
the control and reduction of pollution caused by hydrocarbons discharged at sea. Council Decision of 3
December 1981 establishing a community information system for the control and reduction of pollution
caused by hydrocarbons discharged at sea, OJ L 355, 10.12.1981, pp. 52-55, no longer in force, Date
of end of validity: 21/03/1986. In the same spirit see also: Regulation (EU) 2015/757 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 on the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon
dioxide emissions from maritime transport, and amending Directive 2009/16/EC, OJ L 123, 19.5.2015,
pp. 55-76.
4 C. Prote et al., «The aegean sea oil spill one year after: Petroleum hydrocarbons and biochemical
responses in marine research», in Marine Environmental Research, 42, 1996, pp. 404 ss. B. S. dhiLLon,
Safety and reliability in the oil and past industry: A practical approach, London & New York, CRC Press,
2016.
5 J. BasedoW and U. Magnus, Pollution of the sea. Prevention and compensation, Berlin, Springer,
2007, pp. 72 ss. C. de La rue and B. anderson, Shipping and the envirornment, London & New York,
Routledge, 2015, pp. 400 ss.
THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE PORT STATE WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION. COMPARATIVE...
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the European Commission (EC) and the Council to intervene in the early 1990s,
outlining a new common policy on the safety of the seas 6. This has progressively
assisted in the development and affirmation of autonomous regional law relat-
ing to maritime safety in european waters 7, often as a result of environmental
damage caused by some serious accidents, such as that of the Erika tanker in
1999 8 or the Prestige oil tanker in 2002 9. Regulatory interventions on maritime
6 European Commission Communication of 24 February 1993 amending a common policy on the
safety of the seas and Council Resolution of 8 June 1993 on a common policy on safe seas, COM/93/66
def., 24.2.1993, in GUCE C 271 of 7.10.93, pp. 1-3.
7 A. noLLkaeMPer and E. hey, «Implementation of the LOS Convention at the regional level: Eu-
ropean Community competence in regulating safety and environmental aspects of shipping», in Interna-
tional Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 10, 1995, pp. 282 ss. I. christodouLou-Varotsi, Maritime
safety law and policies of the European Union and the United States of America: Antagonism or synergy?,
Berlin/Heidelberg, Springer, 2009, pp. 39 ss. V. Frank, The European Community and marine environ-
mental protection in the international law of the sea: Implementing global obligations at the regional
level, Leiden/Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007, pp. XXI-480. S. BesLier, «Politique maritime
de l’Union européenne et droit de la mer», in A. cudennec and G. gueguen-haLLouet (sous la dir.),
L’Union européenne et la mer: vers une politique maritime de l’Union européenne? Actes du colloque de
Brest 18 et 19 octobre 2006, Paris, Pedone, 2007, pp. 37-44.
8 Following the sinking of the Erika oil tanker, the EC adopted a series of legislative packages
known as Erika I [Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council
on maritime transport safety of oil, COM (2000) 142 final, 21.3.2000], Erika II [Communication
from the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the second set of
European Union measures on maritime safety following the sinking of the oil tanker ERIKA, COM
(2000) 802 final, 6.12.2000] and Erika III (Communication from the European Commission) Third
package of legislative measures on maritime safety in the European Union, COM(2005) 585 def.,
23.11.2005). See, H. ringBoM, «The Erika accident and its effects on EU maritime regulation», in
M. H. nordquist and J. N. Moor e (eds.), Current marine environmental issues and the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001, pp. 265-290. Y. Van der Mens -
Brugghe, «Sécurité maritime et protection de l’environnement marin en l’an 2000: des réactions de
la Communauté européenne à l’affaire de l’Erika et dequibusdam aliis...», in Annuaire du Droit de la
Mer, 7, 2000, pp. 177-201. Y. Van der MensBrugghe, «Le paquet Erika III sur la sécurité maritime
dans la communauté européenne enfin ficelé», in Annuaire du Droit de la Mer, 16, 2009, pp. 295-307.
F. odier, «Réflexions sur le paquet Erika III statut du pavillon-assurance du propriétaire du navire:
confrontation du droit international et du droit communautaire», in Annuaire du Droit de la Mer, 15,
2008, pp. 279-287. S. roBert, L’Erika: responsabilités pour un désastre écologique, Paris, Persee,
2003, pp. VIII-259. J. P. Beurier, Les conséquences du naufrage de l’Erika: risques, environnement,
société, réhabilitation, Rennes, Pur, 2005, pp. 282 ss. M. ndende, «Regard sur les procédures d’in-
demnisation des victimes de la catastrophe de l’Erika», in Annuaire de Droit Maritime ed Ocèanique,
21, 2003, pp. 89-105.
9 Regulation (EC) No. 1726/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003
amending Regulation (EC) No. 417/2002 on the accelerated phasing-in of double-hull or equivalent de-
sign requirements for single-hull oil tankers, OJ L 249, 1.10.2003, pp. 1-4, no longer in force, Date of
end of validity: 19/07/2012. See also: J. Juste ruiz, «Compensation for pollution damage caused by oil
Tanker accidents: From “Erika” to “Prestige”», in Aegean Review of the Law of the Sea and Maritime
Law, 1, 2010, pp. 37-60. M. garcía negro, «The prestige oil spill in Galicia: Analysis of legal compen-
sation systems and economic assessment of damages to commercial fisheries», in Ocean Yearbook, 22,
2008, pp. 445-477. J. M. soBrino heredia, «L’affaire du Prestige: cadre juridique communautaire», in R.
casado raigón (sous la dir.), L’Europe et la mer (pêche, navigation et environnement marin), Bruxelles,
Bruylant, 2005, pp. 215-248. V. Bou Franch, Freedom of navigation versus pollution by oil from vessels
the point of view of coastal States, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2005, pp. 253-286. V. Frank, «Consequences of
the prestige sinking for european and international law», in International Journal of Marine and Coastal
Law, 20, 2005 pp. 1-64. A. BeLLayer-roiLLe, «Les réactions juridiques de la CE suite au naufrage du
Prestige: étude d’une politique ambitieuse de sécurité maritime», in Annuaire du Droit Maritime et Ocèa-
nique, 21, 2003, pp. 133-184. Y. Van der MensBrugghe, «De l’Erika au Prestige: La réaction de la
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