Following a recent REFIT (Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme) evaluation, the European Commission has identified a range of potential shortcomings in the implementation of the  directive 2000/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 27 November 2000, on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues (the “directive”), which confirm that the current system is not optimal even if the directive has had positive effects since its entry into force.

The directive is based on the requirements contained in the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) in order to ensure that all Member States’ ports have proper reception facilities for waste from ships that is not allowed to be discharged into the sea so to address the issue of marine litter from ships. This issue will be addressed even more closely with the revision of the directive.

All citizens and organizations are welcome to contribute to this consultation by replying to the online questionnaire regarding the appropriateness of the current EU legal framework, the problems identified by the Commission and the preliminary options for policy answers to these problems, as identified by the Commission in the preparatory work for a revision of the directive.

The online questionnaire (available at the following LINK) should be returned by 16 October 2016 at the very latest. Stakeholders with specialist knowledge or direct professional links to the topic are also invited to forward their specific positions in writing to the functional mailbox MOVE-D2-CONSULTATION-PRF@ec.europa.eu.