European Maritime Single Window

Briefing 14-05-2018

Reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States are currently set out in Directive 2010/65/EU – the Reporting Formalities Directive (RFD). The directive aims to simplify and harmonise administrative procedures in maritime transport by introducing a single window for reporting formalities for ships. The European Commission's ex-post evaluation of the functioning of the directive showed that, eight years after its adoption, several serious problems are hampering its harmonised application throughout the EU. The main problem drivers are (1) an unsatisfactory level of national and EU harmonisation, (2) the limited scope of the directive and (3) an inefficient use of the received data by national authorities of Member States. The European Parliament has already underlined the need for simplification and harmonisation of administrative requirements for ships in maritime transport. The European Commission intends to address the problems identified to date by submitting a legislative proposal to revise the RFD in the second quarter of 2018.