A consultation on boat licensing in Europe
Anyone who has ever rented a boat outside their own country, or been inspected in waters outside their own, will have noticed that legislation on pleasure boating varies from country to country. To gain a better understanding of how this can hinder the development of the boating industry, the sailing habits of Europeans and the European yachting economy, the European Commission has decided to launch an online consultation. Two surveys, with ten questions for professionals and fifteen questions for yachtsmen, were launched on the European Union website at the beginning of April 2024. Everyone is invited to share their experience of the use of boating licenses in the European Union, particularly outside their country of origin. The questionnaire for the general public is available in 9 languages, and that for professionals in English only.
Mutual recognition or European boating licence?
After detailing their own boating experience and that of using a boating license outside their own country, whether renting a boat or moving within the European Union, participants are invited to evaluate their own license examination, and then, if they consider that a legislative evolution is welcome, to evaluate two hypotheses. The first is automatic reciprocal recognition of licenses between European countries, and the second is the introduction of a European boating license.
The European Commission's initiative in an area where harmonization is sorely lacking is to be welcomed. Depending on one's point of view, one may see the risk of a safety deficit in terms of what is expected of the skipper, or that of regulatory inflation. When differences as significant as the need or otherwise for sailing boats to be licensed remain, the need to homogenize the situation seems natural. While we await possible decisions, every yachtsman and boating professional should take the opportunity to express his or her position by responding to the surveys in the links below.
