Coast Guard Functions Activities Descriptions And
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Coast Guard Functions Sectoral Qualification Frameworks European Coast Guard Functions Academies Network Project Work Package 4 ANNEX 1 REPORT ON QUESTIONNAIRE N°1 “Coast Guard Functions’ Activities Descriptions and related Tasks” TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 3 a. Project Background ............................................................................................................. 3 b. Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 5 2. CONSULTATION METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................... 7 a. Design of Questionnaire ...................................................................................................... 7 b. Data gathering ..................................................................................................................... 8 3. RESULTS .................................................................................................................................. 9 a. Overall Results ..................................................................................................................... 9 b. Data Analysis Criteria ......................................................................................................... 11 4. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................... 13 ANNEX I – DETAILED RESULTS FOR EACH FUNCTION ............................................................... 15 ANNEX II – SUMMARY TABLE OF DETAILED QUESTIONNAIRE’S RESULTS ............................... 55 2 1. INTRODUCTION This document is the report of the first questionnaire promoted by the Italian Coast Guard (Work Package 4 Coordinator) within the planned activities of the European Coast Guard Functions Academies Network project (ECGFA-NET project). a. Project Background The aims of the project “European Coast Guard Functions Academy Network for European Sectorial Qualification's Framework for Coast Guarding, (ECGFA NET)” are to strengthen international collaboration on training and build a network of academies and training institutions for Coast Guard functions on ECGFF level. The network of academies would later contribute to the establishment of Sectorial Qualifications Framework for Coast guard functions. Finnish Border Guard is acting as a beneficiary and a coordinator in the ECGFA Net project. The affiliated contributors are: Italian Coast Guard, Armed Forces of Malta, DGDDI - French Customs, Romanian Naval Academy of Constanta, Guardia Civil (Spain), Portugal - Guardia Nacional Republicana, German Federal Police, UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Hellenic Coast Guard, Spanish Customs and Excises, SASEMAR (Spain), Cyprus Police Academy, Spanish Navy. The observer institutions are: European Space Agency, Guardia di Finanza (Italy), European Fisheries Control Agency, Frontex, European Union Satellite Centre, Swedish Coast Guard, The European Police College (CEPOL) Within the ECGFA-NET project, Work Package 4 is aimed to suggest minimum requirements and provide key recommendations for the future development of a Coast Guard Functions Sectorial Qualifications Framework (CGFSQF). This CGFSQF would constitute an added value for sectorial authorities working towards safer and more secure seas. In fact, the framework has the potential to increase the levels of interoperability, which is needed to face maritime related risks and threats in a more consistent way. Implementing such co-operation will require an open study and common mechanisms, which the Framework can provide. The Italian Coast Guard is the leader institution in the implementation of the fourth Work Package of the project. In order to reach the specific tasks of the WP4, the Italian Coast Guard has planned – among the other actions – the promotion of two questionnaires, which are mainly aimed to gather key information for the definition of minimum requirements for CGFSQF and related recommendations. 3 The following assumptions have been made in order to prepare this document: - In the field of coast guard functions training and education, several initiatives have already been undertaken by the competent Agencies, which are and will be useful for the work of the Forum in this sector; - The Sectorial Qualification Framework (SQF) for Border Guard - developed by Frontex - is a useful example of SQF in the field of Coast Guard Functions and its methodology can be considered a basis for similar initiatives in Coast Guard Functional activities (CGF activities); - The CGF activities are not always well defined according to EU/International rules and cannot always be linked to any EU Agencies. - The list of Coast CGF activities – adopted by the European Coast Guard Functions Forum (ECGFF) - is considered1 the best available one at EU level but, at the same time, the Forum doesn’t hold detailed descriptions of the content and boundaries of such activities; - To reach the highest possible consistency, external expertise would be needed from the academic world in order to provide their expertise in the field of EQF and Bologna/Copenhagen process. In particular the following activities will be requested as support from the external experts: 1) to study and to elaborate principles and objectives of the EQF applicable to the CGFSQF; 2) to study and to elaborate the methodology for the future development of CGFSQF; 3) to contribute in the analysis of data and information collected with the WP4 questionnaires; 4) to contribute in drafting the final report; - The support of the affiliated partners in the development of the WP4 work is a key element in order to design a complete framework of information related to the basic element for CGFSQF; - The support of the ECGFF Members (other than the affiliated partners) is essential to map the national contexts and assure the expected results of the project. 1 Study on the feasibility of improved co-operation between bodies carrying out Coast Guard functions – Final Report http://ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/studies/index_en.htm 4 b. Objectives A shared description of each Coast Guard Functions is considered an initial and essential step, useful also to create a common terminology for further steps of this project. In fact, these descriptions would allow defining the content and boundaries of the various functions, also highlighting similarities and differences, particularly related to education and training issues. The promoted Questionnaire launched in the framework of ECGFA net project is aimed to collect general descriptions of each European Coast Guard Function as listed within the ECGFF’s Terms of Reference (amended in the 6th ECGFF Plenary Conference - Civitavecchia September 2014). According to the abovementioned Terms of Reference, the ECGFF has identified the following Coast Guard Functions: 1. maritime safety, including vessel traffic management 2. maritime, ship and port security 3. maritime customs activities 4. the prevention and suppression of trafficking and smuggling and connected maritime law enforcement 5. maritime border control 6. maritime monitoring and surveillance 7. maritime environmental protection and response 8. maritime search and rescue 9. ship casualty and maritime assistance service 10. maritime accident and disaster response 11. fisheries inspection and control; and 12. activities related to the above Coast Guard Functions 5 In the “Study on the feasibility of improved co-operation between bodies carrying out Coast Guard functions” - done by ICF International for the European Commission2 – the Coast Guard Functions were interpreted with the purpose to facilitate the analysis required for the Study. Considering the abovementioned Study strictly linked to the ECGFF, the interpretation done by ICF International in the preparation of first questionnaire (see para 2.a.iii) has also been taken into account. Given the above, the expected result of the questionnaire is to collect: - Coast Guard function descriptions; - for each CG Function, a list of main tasks to be further investigated in order to analyse (with a 2nd questionnaire) job profiles for each Coast Guard Function. 2 Study on the feasibility of improved co-operation between bodies carrying out Coast Guard functions – Final Report http://ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/studies/index_en.htm 6 2. CONSULTATION METHODOLOGY a. Design of Questionnaire The Questionnaire was prepared by the Italian Coast Guard with the complementary support of the Italian Guardia di Finanza. The work can be summarized as follows. i. Experts working group An experts working group covering all the Coast Guard Functions has been appointed with the aim to gather – at national level – the needed expertise for all Coast Guard Functions. This expert group has been composed by Italian Coast Guard and Italian Guardia di Finanza Officers. ii. Coast Guard Functions As already mentioned, the questionnaire has been prepared on the basis of the ECGFF List of Coast Guard Functions. Taking into account the implemented Frontex SQF for Border Guard, it was decided not to further investigate – at this stage – the “maritime border control” sector. With reference to the Coast Guard Function n.12 “activities related to the Coast Guard Functions” was excluded from the survey because it is considered