Le transport maritime est d'une importance stratégique pour l'économie de l'Union européenne. Chaque année, un milliard de tonnes de pétrole transitent par les ports et les eaux de l'UE et deux milliards de tonnes de marchandises sont chargées et déchargées dans ses ports. C'est pourquoi, depuis le naufrage de l'Amoco Cadiz et les conséquences désastreuses, tant pour l'environnement que pour l'économie qui en découlèrent, l'Union européenne ne cesse de développer et d'intensifier sa politique de sécurité maritime dans le but de mettre un terme à la navigation sous normes, essentiellement par une application effective des règles internationales en la matière. Depuis 1993, l'UE et ses États membres sont au premier plan afin d'améliorer la législation en matière de sécurité du transport maritime de marchandises et substances dangereuses pour éliminer les navires sous-normes, augmenter la protection des équipages, réduire le risque de pollution de l'environnement et veiller à ce que les opérateurs qui suivent les bonnes pratiques ne soient pas désavantagés commercialement par rapport à ceux qui sont prêts à prendre des raccourcis avec la sécurité des navires. Les accidents de l'Erika et du Prestige encouragèrent l'UE à réformer radicalement son régime juridique et à adopter de nouvelles règles et normes de prévention des accidents en mer, en particulier celles impliquant les pétroliers. Depuis plus de trente ans l'UE n'a cessé de renforcer et d'améliorer son arsenal législatif. Elle fit évoluer sa réglementation consécutivement aux divers accidents qui vinrent frapper ses côtes ; c'est pourquoi la sécurité du transport maritime sera toujours en évolution. / Maritime transport has strategic importance for the economy of the European Union. Each year, one billion tons of oil pass through the ports and waters of the EU. Two billion tons of goods are loaded and unloaded in its ports. Because of the disastrous consequences the sinking of Amoco Cadiz has had on the environment and economy, the European Union continues to develop and strengthen its policy on maritime safety in order to put an end to substandard shipping, primarily through the effective application of international rules. Since 1993, the European Union and its Member States are at the forefront improving legislation on the safety of maritime transport of dangerous goods and substances, striving to eliminate substandard ships, increase protection of the crew, reduce the risk of environmental pollution. The EU is insuring operators who are following the best practices, compared to those who are willing to take shortcuts with the safety of ships, are not commercially disadvantaged. Accidents of the Erika and Prestige encouraged the EU to radically reform its legal system and to adopt new rules and standards for the prevention of accidents at sea, particularly those involving tankers. For more than thirty years the European Union has not stopped to strengthen and to improve its legislation in order to better protect itself against the risks of pollution due to maritime transports of dangerous goods. It has updated its regulation consecutivly to several accidents which damaged its coasts ; that is why the safety of maritme transport will always be evolving.

Arbetet har syftat till att undersöka och problematisera flaggstatens och klassificeringssällskapens roller såsom kontrollfunktion avseende sjösäkerhet. Frågor har ställts angående vilka skyldigheter flaggstater å ena sidan, och klassificeringssällskap å andra sidan, har vad gäller fartygskonstruktion och fartygssäkerhet. Vidare har arbetet även behandlat frågan vilka sjösäkerhetsrelaterade effekter som kan uppkomma av att flaggstaten delegerar skyldigheter avseende konstruktion till klassificeringssällskap. För att besvara frågorna har en kvalitativ dokumentstudie gjorts, med vissa inslag av rättsdogmatik i de delar som avsett finna gällande rätt på området. Materialet för dokumentstudiens del har till stor del valts ut genom en bred sökning i litteratur och avhandlingar på området. På så vis har det använda materialet redan genomgått en urvalsprocess och därmed ansetts vara relevant för arbetet. Resultatet visar att det finns en viss överlappning i kontrollfunktionsrollen för både flaggstaten och klassificeringssällskapen. Att delegering av skyldigheter sker från flaggstaten till klassificeringssällskapen är inte nödvändigtvis problematiskt. Dock kan en delegering få negativa effekter på sjösäkerheten i de fall klassificeringssällskapen inte är i paritet med flaggstaten eller båda parter saknar en effektiv kontrollfunktion med högt ställda krav. Skulle delegering ske till ett klassificeringssällskap som har en god kontrollfunktion med höga krav kan brister som finns inom flaggstaten, såsom bristande resurser och kompetens, avhjälpas. Trots att systemet till stor del verkar fungera tillfredsställande finns anledning att fortsätta forska inom området för att undersöka hur de problem som belysts i detta arbete kan åtgärdas eller förhindras i framtiden. / The aim of this paper has been to investigate and problematize the roles of the flag state and the classification societies in regard to their maritime safety control function. Questions have been raised regarding what obligations flag states on one hand, and classification societies on the other hand, have regarding ship construction and ship safety. Furthermore, the paper has also addressed the question of what maritime safety-related effects may arise from the flag state delegating their duties to classification societies. To answer the questions, a qualitative document study has been conducted, with some elements of legal dogmatics in certain parts in order to find the current legal situation. The material for the document study has been selected by thorough research into literature and dissertations in the area. Therefore, the chosen material has been previously reviewed and gone through a selection process and was thus considered relevant for this paper. The result has shown that there is some overlap in the control function for both the flag state and the classification societies. Delegating obligations from the flag state to the classification societies is not necessarily problematic. However, delegation of the said duties can have negative effects on maritime safety in cases where the classification societies are not on par with the flag state or both parties lack an effective control apparatus to enforce high standards. Should delegation occur to a classification society that has a good control apparatus with high requirements, possible shortcomings that exist within the flag state, such as lack of resources and skills, can be remedied by the high standard performance of the classification society. Even though the system might seem satisfactorily at first glance, there is room for further research in the area in order to investigate how the existing problems can be managed and prevented in the future.