This document has been developed by the European Commission with the assistance of the European Maritime Safety Agency with a view to providing to EU Member States’ Maritime Administrations/Designated Authorities guidance in the application of maritime security measures.

In particular, this guidance focuses on administrative and control tasks that need to be executed by Member States’ Competent Authorities for maritime security in relation to the following areas:

• Member State obligations;
• Role as flag State;
• Role of Recognised Security Organisations (RSOs);
• Role as port State (i.e. Duly Authorised Officers, DAO);
• Port Facilities;
• Communication of information.

The added value of the document is to provide guidance on selected aspects of this activity where the feed-back from maritime security inspections led by the European Commission in Member States with the assistance of EMSA allows to highlight key regulatory requirements, providing more clarity where possible, together with recommendations and best management practices as a complement to the said requirements.

Moreover, since the work of all parties involved in maritime security in Member States and the work of the European Commission inspectors are a continuous progress, the outcomes showed in this document should be in continuous development. Therefore, this is a living document that will be updated and developed as needed and at least on a yearly basis.