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1. In order to ensure that the objectives set out in Article 1 are met in the appropriate manner, the Agency shall perform the core tasks listed in this Article.

2. The Agency shall assist the Commission:

(a) in the preparatory work for updating and developing relevant legal acts of the Union, in particular in line with the development of international legislation;

(b) in the effective implementation of relevant binding legal acts of the Union, in particular by carrying-out visits and inspections as referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation and by providing technical assistance to the Commission in the performance of the inspection tasks assigned to it pursuant to Article 9(4) of Regulation (EC) No 725/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on enhancing ship and port facility security (). In this regard, it may address suggestions to the Commission for any possible improvements of those binding legal acts;

(c) in the analysis of ongoing and completed research projects relevant to the objectives of the Agency; this may include the identification of possible follow-up measures resulting from specific research projects;

(d) in the performance of any other task assigned to the Commission in legislative acts of the Union regarding the objectives of the Agency.

3. The Agency shall work with the Member States to:

(a) organise, where appropriate, relevant training activities in fields which are the responsibility of the Member States;

(b) develop technical solutions, including the provision of relevant operational services, and provide technical assistance, to the building up of the necessary national capacity for the implementation of relevant legal acts of the Union;

(c) provide, at the request of a Member State, appropriate information resulting from the inspections referred to in Article 3 in order to support the monitoring of the recognised organisations that carry out certification tasks on behalf of the Member States in accordance with Article 9 of Directive 2009/15/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations and for the relevant activities of maritime administrations () without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the flag State;

(d) support with additional means in a cost efficient way pollution response actions in case of pollution caused by ships as well as marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations, when a request has been presented by the affected Member State under the authority of which the cleaning operations are conducted, without prejudice to the responsibility of coastal States to have appropriate pollution response mechanisms in place while respecting existing cooperation between Member States in this field. As appropriate, requests for mobilisation of anti-pollution actions shall be relayed through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism established by Council Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom ().

4. The Agency shall facilitate cooperation between the Member States and the Commission:

(a) in the field of traffic monitoring covered by Directive 2002/59/EC, the Agency shall in particular promote cooperation between riparian States in the shipping areas concerned, as well as develop and operate the European Union Long-Range Identification and Tracking of Ships European Data Centre and the Union Maritime Information and Exchange System (SafeSeaNet) as referred to in Articles 6b and 22a of that Directive as well as the International Long-Range Identification and Tracking information data exchange system in accordance with the commitment made in the International Maritime Organisation (‘IMO’);

(b) by providing, upon request and without prejudice to national and Union law, relevant vessel positioning and Earth observation data to the competent national authorities and relevant Union bodies within their mandate in order to facilitate measures against threats of piracy and of intentional unlawful acts as provided for in applicable Union law or under internationally agreed legal instruments in the area of maritime transport, subject to applicable data protection rules and in accordance with administrative procedures to be established by the Administrative Board or the High Level Steering Group established in accordance with Directive 2002/59/EC, as appropriate. The provision of long-range identification and tracking of ships data shall be subject to the consent of the flag State concerned;

(c) in the field of the investigation of marine casualties and incidents in accordance with 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 (); the Agency shall, if requested by the relevant Member States and assuming that no conflict of interest arises, provide operational support to these Member States concerning investigations related to serious or very serious casualties and it shall carry out analysis of safety investigation reports with a view to identify added value at Union level in terms of any relevant lessons to be drawn. On the basis of data provided by the Member States, in accordance with Article 17 of that Directive, the Agency shall compile a yearly overview of marine casualties and incidents;

(d) in providing objective, reliable and comparable statistics, information and data, to enable the Commission and the Member States to take the necessary steps to improve their actions and to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of existing measures. Such tasks shall include the collection, recording and evaluation of technical data, the systematic exploitation of existing databases, including their cross-fertilisation, and, where appropriate, the development of additional databases. On the basis of the data collected, the Agency shall assist the Commission in the publication of information relating to ships pursuant to Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on port State control ();

(e) in gathering and analysing data on seafarers provided and used in accordance with Directive 2008/106/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the minimum level of training of seafarers ();

(f) in improving the identification and pursuit of ships making unlawful discharges in accordance with Directive 2005/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties for infringements ();

(g) regarding marine oil pollution caused by oil and gas installations, by using the European Satellite Oil Monitoring Service (CleanSeaNet) to monitor the extent and environmental impact of such pollution;

(h) in providing technical assistance necessary for the Member States and the Commission to contribute to the relevant work of the technical bodies of the IMO, the International Labour Organisation as far as shipping is concerned, and the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (‘Paris MoU’) and relevant regional organisations to which the Union has acceded, with regard to matters of Union competence;

(i) with regard to the implementation of Directive 2010/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States (), in particular by facilitating the electronic transmission of data through SafeSeaNet and by supporting the development of the single window.

5. The Agency may, upon the request of the Commission, provide technical assistance, including the organisation of relevant training activities, as regards relevant legal acts of the Union, to States applying for accession to the Union, and, where applicable, to European Neighbourhood partner countries and to countries taking part in the Paris MoU. The Agency may also provide assistance in case of pollution caused by ships as well as marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations affecting those third countries sharing a regional sea basin with the Union, in line with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism established by Decision 2007/779/EC, Euratom, and by analogy with the conditions applicable to Member States as referred to in paragraph (3)(d) of this Article. These tasks shall be coordinated with the existing regional cooperation arrangements related to marine pollution.