European Maritime Single Window environment (EMSWe)

Due to the above and with the aim of ensuring greater interoperability and more comprehensive, user-friendly communication and information flows, as well as improving the functioning of the internal market and meeting the needs of stakeholders in the maritime sector, the European Parliament and the Council adopted, in June 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/1239 establishing a European Maritime Single Window environment (European Maritime Single Window environment (EMSWe).

The purpose of EMSWe is to optimise reporting formalities for ship arrivals and departures, improve maritime traffic management, reduce the administrative burden on maritime transport stakeholders, and contribute to greater transparency, efficiency, and harmonisation of procedures. EMSWe requires the standardised electronic submission of data and documentation, thereby facilitating cooperation among Member States and helping to reduce bureaucracy and delays. Its main objective is to establish harmonised rules for the provision of information required during port calls, in particular by ensuring that the same datasets can be reported in the same manner to every national maritime single window. 

The Commission has adopted delegated and implementing acts laying down the technical specifications for EMSWe. The roadmap for the preparation of these specifications and for the development of the various EMSWe components is also set out in the latest multiannual implementation plan for the establishment of EMSWe (C/2024/6300).

The principal components of the technical documentation that will serve as the basis for the establishment of national information solutions include:

• the EMSWe data set, covering all information elements that may be required by national authorities or port operators for administrative or operational purposes when a ship calls at any EU port (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/674 of 7 April 2025 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/205),

• the technical specifications, standards and procedures laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/204 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2790,
• other specifications required for the operation of the system:
  • Message Implementation Guide - MIG,
  • System Interface Guide - SIG,
  • Reporting Interface Module - RIM,
  • User Registry and Access Management system - URAM,
  • Common Addressing Service - CAS,
  • Graphical User Interface - GUI.

  If registration is required to access the materials, it can be completed on the EU Login portal website.

The new regulations are expected to become applicable on 15 August 2025 in all EU Member States; however, the European Commission is considering the possibility of extending the implementation deadline. In many Member States, the expected implementation date is 1st March 2027.

For this purpose, in January 2024 the Slovenian Maritime Administration joined a consortium of Member States that submitted the project “Smart European Maritime Space through the European Maritime Single Window Environment” (SEMAS-EMSWe) under the CEF-2 Transport programme call. The SEMAS-EMSWe project partnership consists of nine partners and nineteen associated partners from a total of nine different countries (Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Italy, Slovenia, Belgium and Estonia). Within the project, the Ministry of Finance (Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, FURS) participates as the Slovenian associated partner, while six Slovenian stakeholders have signed letters of support (KOPP d.o.o., Luka Koper d.d., the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS), the Ministry of the Interior - Police, and the Ministry of Health Health Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia).

The SEMAS-EMSWe project, with a total value of EUR 29.8 million, was approved by the European Commission in June 2024 and will be co-financed at a rate of 50% by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

The project received an excellent overall evaluation score of 24 out of a maximum possible 25 points. In addition to the Slovenian Maritime Administration, the following partners are participating in the project:

• Fundacion De La Comunidad Valenciana Para La Investigacion, Promocion Y Estudios Comerciales De Valenciaport, Spain
• Puertos del Estado, Spain
• Swedish Maritime Administration, Sweden
• Ministerie Van Infrastructuur En Waterstaat, Netherlands
• Direccao Geral de Recursos Naturais, Seguranca e servicos maritimos, Portugal
• Fintraffic Meriliikenteenohjaus Oy, Finland
• Comando Generale Del Corpo Delle Capitanerie Di Porto - Guardia Costiera, Italy
• Circle Spa, Italija

The total amount of funding allocated to the project partner, the Slovenian Maritime Administration, for the implementation of the project is EUR 2,997,536.00, of which the European Union contribution amounts to EUR 1,498,768.00.