16. 7. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 173/33 COMMISSION DECISION of 13 July 1993 on Spain’s request for adoption by the Commission of a prolongation of safeguard measures pursuant to Article 5§ of Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 applymg the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport within Member States (maritime cabotage) (Only the Spanish text is authentic) (93/396/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 of 7 December 1992 applying the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport within Member States (maritime cabotage) ('), and in particular to Article § thereof, which sets out the circumstances under which a Member State may request the Commission to adopt safe- guard measures in the event of a serious disturbance of the internal transport market due to cabotage liberaliza- tion or in the case of an emergency, Whereas on 17 February 1993 the Commission adopted Decision 93/125/EEC () on Spain’s request for adoption by the Commission of safeguard measures pursuant to Article § of Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 by which it granted an exclusion of the Spanish mainland area from the scope of the above Regulation with the exception of feeder services and for a period of six months expiring on the 17 August 1993; Whereas, in particular, Article 5 of Decision 93/125/EEC, established that two independent experts would be appointed, one by the Commission and one by the Spanish authorities in order to prepare a joint study on the possible economic impact on the Spanish shipping sector of the liberalization of mainland cabotage, on the basis of which the Commission would, on request from Spain, review the situation ; Whereas, in accordance with the above provision, a study was submitted to the Commission on the 14 June 1993 ; Whereas on 21 June 1993 Spain formally requested the Commission to prolong the safeguard measures in the same terms for an additional period of six months as from 17 August 1993; Whereas a meeting was organized by the Commission on 24 June 1993 to consult the other Member States on this () OJ No L 364, 12. 12. 1992, p. 7. () OJ No L 49, 27. 2. 1993, p. 88. request in accordance with Article 5 (1) of the abovemen- tioned Regulation ; Whereas on the basis of an analysis of traffic structure it was decided for the purpose of the study to pursue the analysis of the impact of cabotage liberalization through the segmentation of the cabotage market by vessel types and by market trades rather than by geographic areas, as the effects of liberalization will be geographically uniform ; Whereas each of the eight sectors into which the cabotage market was partitioned (supply services, transport of cement of clinker in bulk by specialized cement carriers, transport of reefer cargo, roll-on, roll-off transport services, transport of general cargo in containers, transport of break-bulk general cargo, transport of dry bulk cargo and transport of chemcial products in specialized tankers) was analysed as to the expected impact of immediate liberalization on its international competitive position and the expected impact of the prolongation of the deroga- tion ; Whereas the study has demonstrated the relatively un- favourable competitive position of the Spanish cabotage fleet under the Spanish Ordinary Register’s conditions and under the Canary Island Special Register’s present conditions as compared with representative foreign competitors ; Whereas the Royal Decree authorizing the registration of vessels and companies operating in cabotage trade in the Special Canaries Register has been approved on 11 June 1993 and will come into force on 1 July 1993, giving rise initially to a considerable labour adjustment and asso- ciated expenditure in view of new manning rules; Whereas additional legislation on manning scales and increased flexibility in the nationality requirements for manning (introduced by the Law on Ports and Merchant Marine of 25 November 1992 for the Canary Islands Special Register), needs still to be implemented ; Whereas the fiscal and social security advantages for the shipowners and vessels registered in the Canaray Islands Special Register will not be introduced until the Law on the Economic and Fiscal Regime for the Canary Islands is adopted ;