Since 2000 the EU has become increasingly active in the maritime sphere as regards safety and the environment. This has led to a series of Directives, set out below, which will cease to have effect under the implementing statutory instruments in the UK on repeal of the European Communities Act 1972.
First off, there is the series of Directives generated under the third maritime safety package, known as ERIKA III, which entered into force on 17th June 2009.
– Directive 2009/21/EC on compliance with flag state requirements
– Directive 2009/15/EC and Regulation (EC) No. 391/2009 on common rules and standards for ship inspections and survey organisations
– Directive 2009/16/EC on port State control
– Directive 2009/17/EC establishing a Community vessel traffic monitoring and information system
– Directive 2009/18/EC establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector
– Directive 2009/20/EC on the insurance of shipowners for maritime claims
This gives Member States the power to expel from their ports vessels which do not have a certificate showing liability for maritime claims up to the limits in the 1976 LLMC as amended by the 1996 Protocol.
Erika III also produced a Regulation.
Regulation (EC) No. 392/2009 on the liability of carriers of passengers by sea in the event of accidents. This brought the 2002 Protocol to the Athens Convention into force within the EU in 2012. The UK has ratified the Protocol and on 28 May 2014 brought it into domestic law through a statutory instrument The Merchant Shipping (Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea) Order 2014 deriving from the powers conferred by sections 183(4) and (6) and 184(1) and (3) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995
Other notable Directives in the maritime sphere are
Directive 2005/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on ship–source pollution and on the introduction of penalties for infringements
This criminalises ship source pollution in cases of ‘serious negligence’ and was the subject of a decision of the ECJ in 2008 in the Intertanko case C-308/06 in which it decided that the legality of the Directive could not be assessed in the light of either MARPOL or UNCLOS.
Directive 2012/33/ on the Sulphur Content of Maritime Fuels.
This came into effect on 1 January 2015 and requires ships sailing in the English Channel, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea (the North European emission control area) to use bunker oil with a maximum 0.1% sulphur or apply alternative methods in order to achieve the same effect.
Directive 2013/30/EU on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations and amending Directive 2004/35/EC
This was the EU response to the ‘Deepwater Horizon’ blowout in 2010. The Directive aims to prevent the occurrence of a ‘Deepwater Horizon’ in offshore installations in the EU but also addresses, in part, the response should such an incident occur, through three provisions. First, art. 38 extends the territorial scope of the Environmental Liability Directive 2004 (the ‘ELD’) from coastal waters to waters within the exclusive economic zone or the continental shelf of Member States, up to 370 km from shore. Second, art.7 requires Member States to ensure that the licensee is financially liable for the prevention and remediation of “environmental damage” – i.e. damage falling within the ELD – caused by offshore oil and gas operations carried out by, or on behalf of, the licensee or the operator. Third, art.4 requires Member States “to require the licensee to maintain sufficient capacity to meet their financial obligations resulting from liabilities for offshore oil and gas operations.” and, when granting or transferring licenses, to take due account of, inter alia, “the applicant’s financial capabilities, including any financial security, to cover liabilities potentially deriving from the offshore oil and gas operations in question including liability for potential economic damages where such liability is provided for by national law”. These provisions came into effect on 19 July 2015.
It is, of course, open for Parliament to provide for the continuation of the statutory instruments implementing these Directives.
The House of Commons Briefing Paper of 30 June suggests (p14):
There might be some over-arching legislation saying, for example, that all UK laws implementing any EU Directive were repealed (perhaps with specified exceptions); or that they would all remain in force (again perhaps with exceptions). If the ECA were repealed, any secondary legislation based on s2(2) ECA would need to be saved from lapsing if it was to continue in force. EU Regulations, which are directly applicable (i.e. they do not need further implementation in the UK to come into force) will cease to have effect if the UK were to repeal the ECA.
There is no reason why EU-based UK law could not remain part of UK law, but the Government would have to make sure it still worked without the UK being in the EU.
The Government would probably come up with a mechanism for allowing changes to be made to secondary legislation (Statutory Instruments) made under the ECA or other ‘parent’ acts. There could also be general amendments, such as replacing references to ‘the Commission’ or ‘Council’ with references to ‘the Secretary of State’.
The devolved legislatures would have to deal with EU legislation they have transposed into Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish laws. It would also be necessary to amend the relevant parts of the devolution legislation, which might require a Legislative Consent Motion under the Sewel Convention.