This proposal for a Directive aimed to define the criteria that must be satisfied by the maritime classification societies and other private bodies acting on behalf of the national authorities of the Member States and thus ensure that bodies authorised to carry out inspection and certification, or those bodies upon which the Member States intended to call in order to carry out those tasks, were sufficiently competent and reliable and were capable of undertaking an adequate check to ensure that the vessels classified by them complied with the safety and environmental protection standards. The list of criteria had been drawn up with due regard to the rules laid down by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), and criteria set out in standards EN 45005 (bodies authorised to carry out inspections) and EN 29001 of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). In particular, they required the bodies in question:
- to maintain a documented quality system;
- to employ the services of highly qualified technical personnel;
- to have the use of local inspection offices ensuring global coverage and a classification register relating to a minimum number of vessels or minimum tonnage;
- to display willingness to cooperate with the authorities responsible for port state control.
The proposal also recommended a system of agreements between the Member States and the classification societies setting out the rules and the specific functions undertaken by the bodies concerned, which the Member States were to review from time to time. Finally, as far as third countries are concerned, the proposal established the principle whereby a Member State acting as port state should ensure that vessels permitted to fly the flag of a third country did not enjoy more favourable treatment than vessels sailing under the flag of a Member State.
�