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RIS Evaluation Staff Working Document published – Information to NAIADES and DINA Expert Group

 

On 25th February 2021 the European Commission published the Staff Working Document SWD(2021)50 and Executive Summary SWD(2021)51 on the Ex-post evaluation of the Directive 2005/44/EC on harmonised river information services (RIS).

The Directive defines the general obligation of the Member States in ensuring the development and implementation of river information services in an efficient, expandable and interoperable way, providing interfaces to transport management systems and commercial activities. Member States shall provide the data necessary for the planning of voyages, shall provide electronic charts (for waterways of class Va and above), shall provide notices to skippers in standardised, coded and downloadable messages and Member States shall enable competent authorities to receive standardised electronic ship reports from ships.

As fifteen years have passed since the Directive entered into force in 2005, it was considered time to assess how well the RIS Directive has performed relative to original expectations. The purpose of this evaluation is to generate and provide an evidence base to support any further decisions related to the development of the legislative framework in this policy area, including a possible revision of the current Directive.