Third EU Maritime Safety Package 17 July 2009 No.09-004 The legislative dossiers that constitute the Third EU Maritime Safety Package (known more commonly as "Erika III") were published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) on 28 May 2009 and entered into force on the 20th day thereafter on 17 June 2009, although they will not have effect in EU Member States until they have either been implemented into the domestic law of Member States (where the legislation has been agreed in the form of a Directive) or their agreed application date has passed (where the legislation has been agreed in the form of a Regulation). The agreement that has been reached on the Third Maritime Safety Package (the "Package") by the European Council and the European Parliament has drawn to a close over three years of intensive negotiations in Brussels on eight Regulations and Directives 1 that collectively make up the Package, following on from the adoption of two previous packages of maritime legislation in the wake of the Erika and Prestige incidents. The International Group of P&I Clubs (the Group), in conjunction with the European Community Shipowners' Assocation (ECSA) and the national shipowner associations, has closely monitored the development of the Package and over the last three years has provided significant input into the process and made direct representation throughout to key parties and individuals in the European Parliament, the European Council, the Member States and the European Commission involved in the negotiations of the three Regulations and Directives in the Package that are of direct interest to the Group, namely the: -Directive on the Insurance of Shipowners for Maritime Claims, -Regulation on the Liability of Carriers of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea and -Amending Directive establishing a Community Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Information System. The official versions of each of the texts of the dossiers that constitute the Package can be ac