‘Mare not Nostrum:’ EU works on recognition of nautical licenses

Brussels – Sea scale, 27: In EU boating, there are too many speeds, almost as many as the number of member states, making life virtually impossible for those passionate about masts, sails, and waves. Boating licenses are not the same. Strange, yet true. To the point that the European Parliament is calling on the EU Commission to get its hand back on an industry that is too fragmented and, therefore, too un-European.

It is Maltese socialist Daniel Attard who points out how EU boating is far from being a Union. “European citizens can easily drive across Europe with their driving licenses, but sailing across borders with their boating licenses remains a challenge,” he denounces in a question filed as an urgent procedure. “This gap in the single market not only hinders leisure and tourism businesses but also affects professional skippers of small commercial vessels, leading to a workforce challenge.”

In short, those with a license to drive a boat in Malta might not make port in Spain or engage in maritime sports or professions in Lithuania. Whether Mediterranean or Baltic, the sea of Europe is no longer ‘nostrum.’The free movement at the heart of European integration is an acquired characteristic of land, not sea. The European Commission is ready to rewrite the ‘Seven Seas’ rule.  Wopke Hoekstra, on behalf of the college, explains that the EU executive is already at work on appropriate corrections. The outgoing and incoming climate commissioner said the Commission has initiated “a study to analyze the potential advantages and drawbacks of a possible mutual recognition of boating licenses for recreational boat operators, which is due to be finalized by the end of 2024.” 

Should the work program with its deadlines be met, net of institutional change, the second von der Leyen commission “to host a workshop to present the results of the study to interested stakeholders and Member State representatives during the first half 2025.” so by June next year at the latest, Hoekstra reminds us, reflecting the focus on an issue felt not only in Parliament.