L 131114 Official Journal of the European Union 28.5.2009 DIRECTIVE 2009/18/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 April 2009 establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector and amending Council Directive 1999/35/EC and Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 80(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (%), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty, in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 3 February 2009 (), Whereas: (1) A high general level of safety should be maintained in maritime transport in Europe and every effort should be made to reduce the number of marine casualties and incidents. (2)  The expeditious holding of technical investigations into marine casualties improves maritime safety, as it helps to () OJ C 318, 23.12.2006, p. 195. () O] C 229, 22.9.2006, p. 38. (}) Opinion of the European Parliament of 25 April 2007 (O] C 74 E, 30.3.2008, p. 546), Council Common Position of 6 June 2008 (O] C 184 E, 22.7.2008, p. 23), Position of the European Parliament of 24 September 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council Decision of 26 February 2009 and Legislative Resolution of the European Parliament of 11 March 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). prevent the recurrence of such casualties resulting in loss of life, loss of ships and pollution of the marine envi- ronment. (3)  The European Parliament, in its resolution of 21 April 2004 on improving safety at sea (*), has urged the Commission to present a proposal for a directive on investigating shipping accidents. (4 Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 (hereinafter referred to as UNCLOS) establishes the right of coastal States to investigate the cause of any marine casualty occurring within their territorial seas which might pose a risk to life or to the environment, involve the coastal State’s search and rescue authorities, or otherwise affect the coastal State. (5)  Article 94 of UNCLOS establishes that flag States are to cause an inquiry to be held, by or before a suitably qualified person or persons, into certain casualties or incidents of navigation on the high seas. (6)  Regulation /21 of International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea of 1 November 1974 (hereinafter referred to as SOLAS 74), the International Convention of Load Lines of 5 April 1966 and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships of 2 November 1973 lay down the responsibilities of flag States to conduct casualty investigations and to supply the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) with relevant findings. (7)  The Code for the Implementation of Mandatory IMO Instruments annexed to Resolution A.996(25) of the IMO Assembly of 29 November 2007 recalls the obli- gation of flag States to ensure that marine safety inves- tigations are conducted by suitably qualified investigators, competent in matters relating to marine casualties and incidents. That Code further requires flag States to be prepared to provide qualified investigators for that purpose, irrespective of the location of the casualty or incident. (4 O] C 104 E, 30.4.2004, p. 730.