Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2177 of 9 September 2025 amending Directive (EU) 2016/1629 of the European Parliament and of the Council to update the reference to the most recent European Standard laying down Technical Requirements for Inland Navigation Vessels (ES-TRIN 2025)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive (EU) 2016/1629 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2016 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels, amending Directive 2009/100/EC and repealing Directive 2006/87/EC (1), and in particular Article 31(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Union action in the sector of inland navigation should ensure uniformity in the development of technical requirements for inland waterway vessels in the Union.

(2) Directive (EU) 2016/1629 laid down a harmonised system for issuing technical certificates for inland waterway vessels by, inter alia, referencing technical requirements of the European Committee for drawing up standards in the field of inland navigation (‘CESNI’).

(3) CESNI was set up on 3 June 2015 in the framework of the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (‘CCNR’) in order to develop uniform technical standards for inland waterways in various fields, in particular as regards vessels and technical requirements for vessels. These standards are also referenced in the legal regime of the CCNR.

(4) Annex II to Directive (EU) 2016/1629 provides that the technical requirements applicable to crafts are those set out in the European Standard laying down Technical Requirements for Inland Navigation vessels in its edition 2023/1 (ES-TRIN 2023/1). ES-TRIN lays down the uniform technical requirements necessary to ensure the safety of inland navigation vessels.

(5) At its meeting on 17 October 2024, CESNI adopted a new edition of ES-TRIN, namely ES-TRIN 2025/1. The ES-TRIN 2025/1 especially introduces new rules concerning low flashpoint fuels, in particular storage and use of methanol, marking of hazardous areas and labelling of fuels, electric propulsion systems and lithium-ion accumulators, use of aluminium or fibre reinforced plastic for the construction of passenger vessels, abandonment of engine parameter protocol, recognition of field-testing exemption for engines, filling connections and appropriate colour codes, navigation and information equipment, in particular Inland AIS equipment, sewage treatment plants, elevating wheelhouses and transitional provisions for retractable wheelhouses, automatic pressurised water sprinkler systems, connecting pieces between anchor and chain and sleeping cabins.

(6) Annex II to Directive (EU) 2016/1629 should thus be updated to provide that the technical requirements applicable to craft are those set out in ES-TRIN 2025/1 and should be applicable from 1 January 2026.

(7) Directive (EU) 2016/1629 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex II to Directive (EU) 2016/1629 is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2026.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 9 September 2025.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 252, 16.9.2016, p. 118, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/1629/oj.