The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has recently delivered its judgment in two cases—Colegio de Oficiales de la Marina Mercante Española v. Administración del Estado 1 and Albert Anker, Klaas Ras, Albertus Snoek v. Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2 regarding the requirement that the captain of a ship should be a national of the state the flag of which the ship is flying.

In the first case, the Association of Officers in Spain brought an action before the Supreme Court of Spain for the annulment of certain provisions of Spanish law (Royal Decree No. 2062/1999). This law provided that a national of another EC member state can become a captain of a merchant ship, flying the Spanish flag, of less than 100 tonnes gross registered, which carries cargo or fewer than 100 passengers and operates exclusively between ports or points situated in the areas where Spain has sovereignty. This privilege, however, is only granted to the citizens of the EC member states that grant reciprocal treatment to Spanish citizens. However, the previous law, Law No. 27/1992 de Puertos del Estado y de la Marina Mercante (on National Ports and the Merchant Navy), reserved the

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