2.3 Regional rules
European regional rules for co-operation in the field of environmental protection and safety at sea are found first and foremost in the co-operation on Port State Control. This is the so-called Paris Memorandum of Understanding,(1) See for further information https://www.parismou.org. The Paris MOU encompasses European ports as well as Canadian ports. We find similar regional agreements on port state control and cooperation in the Caribbean, (http://www.caribbeanmou.org), the Indian Ocean (http://www.iomou.org), the Persian Gulf, (http://www.riyadhmou.org) and the Asiatic part of the Pacific (http://www.tokyo-mou.org). which ensures co-operation between the member States regarding the inspection of ships that call at ports within the network. These inspections are carried out by the relevant States themselves, and not by classification societies, but the issue of Port State Control is relevant to this discussion, in that a large part of this control consists in ensuring that the ship's certificates, which will normally be issued by the classification societies, are adequate and up-to-date.
In addition to this, there are a number of relevant regulations at EU level. These regulations should be seen in the context of the EU Maritime Transport Strategy 2018.(2) See http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/strategies/2018_maritime_transport_strategy_en.htm. For the purposes of this discussion, it is particularly relevant to look at Directive 2009/15 / EC (RO Directive) and Regulation (EC) No 391/2009 (RO Regulation), which was updated by implementing Directive 2014/111 / EU. The purpose of the regulation is to quality assure classification societies, as well as to pre-approve a certain number of companies that may work on behalf of the EU maritime authorities.(3) Preamble, Directive 2009/15 / EC, para. 8ff. It is not the case that member States must delegate their competence to classification societies, but if they choose to do so, they must use one or more of the EU-approved companies. Member States may also choose to limit the number of classification societies to reflect the needs of each Member State.(4) Preamble, Directive 2009/15 / EC, para. 13. The EU rules have either been published directly or incorporated into Danish law in the classification society decree.(5) Regulation No. 1294 of 24/11/2015, on the recognition and authorisation of organisations which carry out inspection and surveys of vessels.