The European Maritime Safety Agency was established by regulation in August 2002 for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety and preventing pollution of the marine environment within the EU. The agency is to enable the Commission to offer the full range of professional services needed to discharge its duties in that connection. All member states are represented on the agency's board. The Commission has recently published a proposal to amend the regulation to provide the agency with the necessary legal competence regarding pollution response and to specify its role regarding maritime security and the training of seafarers. That proposal has been examined at official working group level by member states.