Statewatch Working Paper: European Commission wants common rules on “registration and certification” for Mediterranean search and rescue organisations

Working Paper by the European Commission, published by Statewatch on 25/05/2023 – accessible here.

A “Draft Roadmap towards a ‘European Framework for Operational Cooperation on Search and Rescue in the Mediterranean Sea’,” obtained by Statewatch and published here, indicates that the European Commission is aiming for “standardisation/convergence of registration and certification rules on private vessels carrying out SAR [search and rescue] as their predominant activity.” This could be used to hinder the activities of search and rescue organisations.

The working paper (pdf) is undated, although the file was created on 25 April and the introduction says it “follows the meeting of the Search and Rescue (SAR) Contact Group on 31 January 2023 that selected, as one of four strands, to work towards a better framework for operational cooperation on SAR.”