2.4 The Relationship Between IMO Law and EU Law in the Context of ANS – Introduction to the Marine Equipment Directive (MED)
Since ANS will be regulated under the MASS Code, both research questions in this thesis touch upon the relationship between EU law and IMO law. Therefore, in this section, I will briefly introduce key aspects of this relationship in the context of ANS, which will serve as premises for the discussions in the following chapters.
All members of the EU are members of the IMO, but the EU itself is not a member.(1) The International Maritime Organization, Member States (2025). Note that three of the EFTA-states, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, are also IMO members. The European Commission holds an observatory status, but this does not come with obligations to regard IMO law in general.(2) The International Maritime Organization, Intergovernmental Organizations which have concluded agreements of cooperation with IMO (2025). Nevertheless, the legal work of the IMO enjoys great respect with the EU, which has traditionally taken active steps to give effect to and enforce IMO standards within EU law.(3) Judith van Leeuwen and Kristine Kern, 'The External Dimension of European Union Marine Governance: Institutional Interplay between the EU and the International Maritime Organization' (2013) 13 GEP 69, 82-83. In this way, the EU ensures harmonized rules within the Union, while at the same time avoiding its member states facing potentially conflicting regulations from the EU and the IMO.
The EU has already demonstrated its commitment to IMO standards when it adopted its own guidelines for MASS trials, which largely referred to the guidelines previously issued by the IMO.(4)EU Operational Guidelines on trials of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) (Version 1, October 2020) More importantly, when the IMO adopts the MASS Code, the Code may, to a certain extent, take effect within EU law through the Marine Equipment Directive (MED).(5) Directive 2014/90/EU (MED).
The MED gives effect to certain requirements for "marine equipment" in the IMO conventions SOLAS, COLREGs and MARPOL,(6) Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (adopted 20 October 1972, entered into force 15 July 1977) 1050 UNTS 16 (COLREGs); International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (adopted 2 November 1973, modified by Protocol of 1978, entered into force 2 October 1983) 1340 UNTS 184 (MARPOL). including their "codes of mandatory application" that have entered into force.(7) The MED Article 2(3). Accordingly, if the mandatory version of the MASS Code is incorporated into SOLAS, the relevant provisions of the Code, including their relevant circulars, would be given effect within EU law via the MED. Conversely, the MED does not automatically give effect to the non-mandatory version of the Code. However, this version may arguably attain relevance as a form of provisional de lege lata in current interpretations of the conventions.(8) Thesis Section 3.4.2.2.
The MED only gives effect to requirements for "marine equipment" that is to be "placed on board" an EU ship and "for which the approval of the flag State administration is required" by the conventional framework.(9) The MED Article 3(1). Therefore, an important question in the context of ANS is whether these systems constitute "marine equipment" that is to be "placed on board" ships, particularly in light of the fact that essential components of ANS may be land-based,(10) Thesis Section 2.1.2. and that certain on-board components could be argued to constitute integrated structures of the MASS themselves rather than equipment "placed" on board. I will discuss these issues in Chapter 3.(11) Thesis Sections 3.4.2.2 and 3.4.2.3.