(fra kommisjonsdirektivet)

(1) Directive (EU) 2017/2397 sets out the conditions and procedures for the certification of the qualifications of persons involved in the operation of a craft on Union inland waterways. That certification is aimed at facilitating mobility, ensuring the safety of navigation and ensuring the protection of human life and the environment. 

(2) In order to provide minimum harmonised standards for the certification of qualifications, the Commission has been empowered to adopt delegated acts to supplement Directive (EU) 2017/2397 by laying down standards for competences and corresponding knowledge and skills, standards for practical examinations, standards for the approval of simulators and standards for medical fitness. 

(3) Union action in the field of inland navigation should aim to ensure uniformity in the development of standards for inland waterway vessels in the Union. 

(4) The European committee for drawing up standards in the field of inland navigation (CESNI) was established on 3 June 2015 under the auspices of the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR) in order to bring together experts from Member States and the CCNR, as well as representatives of international organisations, to establish standards in inland navigation. 

(5) At its meeting of 8 November 2018, CESNI adopted the first European Standard for Qualifications in Inland Navigation (ES-QIN 2018/1). That set of standards was introduced into the legal framework of the Union by Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2020/12. 

(6) Since that time, practical experience in the field of inland navigation revealed shortcomings in the existing standards and showed that an updating thereof was necessary. Consequently, at its meeting of 11 April 2024, CESNI adopted an updated European Standard for Qualifications in Inland Navigation 2024/1 (ES-QIN 2024/1). The new standards include provisions regarding the strengthening of competences at management level for navigation in the vicinity of sea-going ships responding to risks resulting from a lack of boatmaster’s knowledge to navigate on stretches where inland vessels and sea-going ships sail at the same time, references to the European Standard laying down Technical Requirements for Inland Navigation Vessels and the European Standard for River Information Services as well as terminological and editorial clarifications. 

(7) Pursuant to Article 32 of Directive (EU) 2017/2397, delegated acts adopted under that Directive should make reference to standards established by CESNI and include the entire text of those standards, provided that such standards are available and up-todate, that they comply with any applicable requirements set out in the Annexes to that Directive and that Union interests are not compromised by changes in the decisionmaking process of CESNI. The three conditions were fulfilled as regards the adoption by CESNI of ES-QIN 2024/1. Consequently, ES-QIN 2024/1 should be incorporated into Union law. 

(8) ES-QIN 2024/1 contains a self-standing and coherent set of provisions. To ensure legal certainty, clarity and transparency as well as uniform application across the Member States, that set of provisions is to be adopted by a delegated regulation. 

(9) In addition, Annex IV to Delegated Directive (EU) 2020/12, which contains as well a self-standing and coherent set of provisions, should also be included in that delegated regulation. 

(10) Delegated Directive (EU) 2020/12 should therefore be repealed. 

(11) The Regulations for Rhine navigation personnel (RPN), in the version applicable as of 1 January 2026, refer to ES-QIN 2024/1. The purpose of this Delegated Regulation is to ensure compatibility of the legal frameworks of the RPN and Union legislation. In order to allow Member States to adapt their internal rules to ES-QIN 2024/1, the application of ES-QIN 2024/1 should be deferred to 1 January 2026,