On 23 and 24 May 2026, the Social & Education Committee attended the CESNI/QP meetings.

The week started on Monday morning with the QP/QM working group, during which participants discussed the possibility for medical examiners to issue a temporary medical certificate. This would allow crew members to continue sailing while their medical condition is being monitored.

The discussions revolved around the database of multiple-choice questions for boatmasters, which aims to align final examinations between Member States and ensure a comparable level of assessment for candidates. Not all countries are currently in favour of, or intend to use, the database, as its implementation would require considerable time and financial resources.

Finally, participants discussed the planning of meetings for 2027. Until now, all QP meetings have been organised within the same week, making it a particularly intensive schedule. From next year onwards, the QP/QM Meetings will take place two weeks before the other QP meetings.

During the QP/Crew Meeting, the European Commission confirmed the implementation of the Directive in all Member States. Discussions also addressed the planned revision of the Directive to enable the use of digital tools, also referred to as e-tools. In this context, the possibility and necessity of including the engineer profession within the Directive was raised and acknowledged by the Commission.

Image Credit: Maxim Van den Bossche

Work also started on the current draft text of the recommendation, which is expected to be finalised in September before being submitted to CESNI for approval. Most parts of the text have already been discussed and agreed upon. However, the proposal from the IWT Platform concerning the introduction of the “experienced apprentice” category as a possible replacement for the boatman was not accepted by the full group. A revised proposal will therefore be prepared to allow this possibility under specific conditions.

Another important topic concerned the introduction of a fourth group for large vessels. Currently, the table ends with Group 3, covering vessels of 86 metres and longer. As vessels continue to become not only longer but also wider, both Member States and social partners agreed that, from a safety perspective, a new group should be introduced.

The proposal originally developed by the IWT Platform and ETF in 2022 has since been modified, mainly regarding vessel width classifications. The current agreement is as follows:

  • Group 3:
    • vessels from 86 metres up to 135 metres and not wider than 14.90 metres;
    • vessels from 86 metres up to 110 metres and wider than 14.90 metres.
  • Group 4:
    • vessels from 135 metres onwards; or
    • vessels from 110 metres onwards and wider than 14.90 metres.

The main challenge now is to formulate these criteria in a clear and concise way within the table. The next meeting will need to conclude discussions on this matter, as it is scheduled to be presented during the CESNI meeting in October.

In the afternoon session, discussions focused on the technical details of the e-tools. Participants generally agreed that, if onboard registrations are to be digitalised, this should go beyond simply reproducing the current logbook and service record book models in digital form. Instead, a new integrated system connected to existing databases should be developed. Such an approach would create a tamper-proof system while also reducing administrative burden.

The final CESNI/QP plenary meeting on Thursday did not introduce any new agenda items. The meeting mainly served to present the decisions taken in the QM and Crew working groups for approval or information.

The European Commission also provided an update on the implementation of the Directive, confirming that Serbia has completed implementation but still needs to connect to the ECDB. Ukraine is still in the process of implementation.

Furthermore, the upcoming revision of the Directive to include digital e-tools was officially announced. During this discussion, the question was again raised whether the engineer qualification would also be included in the revision, given that this role forms part of the crewing requirements. Finally, the recommendation on crewing requirements was briefly discussed, as this topic had already been extensively addressed during the Crew meeting.

As no additional questions or discussions emerged, the meeting concluded smoothly.

Article written by the Social & Education Committee