Study on the license requirements for pleasure boats in the european union

Abstract

Many European countries require the skippers of a pleasure craft to be able to provide evidence of their competence. The pleasure craft operator card or boating license permits people operate a pleasure craft. One of the requirements of this license is intended to decrease the number of boat accidents. This paper analysis the regulation related on recreational boat licensing of some European Union (EU) members. As a result of this study, no uniformity at European Union in terms of the requirements for sailing in pleasure boats can be proven. It is also important to note that requirements for obtaining the licenses and the personal training of each future skipper are different depending on the member state of the European Union. So this diversity of training criteria should be regulated and standardized equity for all member states. The main purpose of this paper is to make clear that in the European Union there is a lack of coordination in this area, highlighting the differences training patterns depending on the member state in which the skipper has obtained the license and indicate the need to unify the training and licensing for recreational boating.