COMMISSION DELEGATED DECISION
of 3 February 2012
amending Directive 2009/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2012/186/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Directive 2009/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea (1), and in particular Article 3(4) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
In the production of European statistics there should be a balance between the needs of the users and the burden on respondents.
(2)
A technical analysis of the existing data collected under the Union legislation on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea, and of the dissemination policy, has been carried out at European level in order to propose possible technical solutions to simplify, as much as possible, the various activities necessary for the production of statistics, while keeping the final output in line with present and foreseeable needs of users.
(3)
As a result of this analysis, the variable ‘direction’ in the existing quarterly statistics on vessel traffic in the main European ports should be simplified, while the legal status (mandatory vs voluntary) of the corresponding data sets F1 and F2 should be clarified.
(4)
In addition, a harmonised legal framework should be established for a voluntary collection of statistics on Ro-Ro containers. Moreover, the type of cargo classification should be extended.
(5)
The nomenclature on the maritime coastal areas needs to be adapted to technical developments.
(6)
Directive 2009/42/EC should therefore be amended accordingly,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
Annexes I, II, IV and VIII to Directive 2009/42/EC are replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Decision.
Article 2
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The first reference year for the application of this Decision shall be 2012, covering the data for 2012.
Done at Brussels, 3 February 2012.