Since January 2022, the new European legal framework for professional qualifications established by Directive 2017/2397 has led to significant changes in both training content and examination procedures. The implementation of the directive faced the Member States with considerable challenges. In the meantime, most Member States have completed implementation and the examination commissions have gained initial experience.
On 15 November 2023, the third joint meeting of the examination commissions responsible for the examinations of crew members in inland navigation in the CESNI member states took place. Almost 50 experts from the 12 CESNI Member States and Ukraine as well as representatives of the river commissions, the social partners and EDINNA took part in person and online.
The objective of the meeting was primarily to exchange information, improve the quality and conformity of the training programmes, exchange information on the ES-QIN standards and improve them for the next revision.
The meeting was opened by Mrs Lucia Luijten, Secretary General of the CCNR and Executive Secretary of the CESNI and chaired by Mrs Petra Nethövel from the German delegation. 25 questions previously submitted by the participants, ranging from swimming skills, the standards of the simulators to the point system for assessing the examinations, formed the agenda and were discussed, clarified or forwarded to CESNI/QP for further consideration. An interesting event overall, which not only provided important insights for the examination commissions but also provided plenty of impetus for the future work of CESNI/QP.
The CESNI/QP press release on the meeting of the examination commissions you will find here.
The CESNI/QP meeting on 16 November 2023 focused on various issues related to the European Crew Data Base (ECDB), the ES-QIN 2024 and its implementation in a delegated act, the competence standards for entrepreneurs and for new technologies, and work on the development of a common database for multiple-choice questions for the exam at management level.
At the CESNI/QP/Crew meeting on 14 November 2024, Chair Herlinde Liégeois reported that the status of work on the draft crew standards was presented to the CESNI in October and was well received. Work will therefore continue this basis.
The EU Commission informed that the impact assessment for the European crewing requirements will start at the beginning of 2024 and will take one year, so that a Commission proposal for European crewing requirements can be expected in the course of 2025. In addition, the Commission has decided that the European crewing rules and the e-tools for control and enforcement will be combined into one initiative. The three-month public consultation on this initiative with a detailed questionnaire will be launched on the Commission’s website until the end of December.
Author: Andrea Beckschäfer
