§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the relationship of European Community regulations or directives to the action proposed by Her Majesty's Government to abolish the current nationality agreements for senior officers on vessels registered in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. NorrisEC directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC govern the mutual recognition of certain regulated qualifications within the EC. Both permit the competent authority of a member state to satisfy itself that there is an equivalence of standards between its own qualifications and those awarded by the competent authorities of member states. Where there is a substantial difference, a competent authority is entitled to ask the applicant to make up that difference in a number of ways, including an aptitude test or an adaption period.
The proposed EC directive on the minimum level of training for seafarers will ensure that all member states comply with the international convention on standards of training certification and watchkeeping—STCW—and provides that mutual recognition of certificates held by nationals of member states will be subject to the provisions of directives 89/48 and 92/51.
The proposal to relax the current nationality restrictions on senior merchant navy officers, announced on 15 December last by my right hon. Friend will take full account of these developments.