Toespraak Eurocommissaris Tajani over de viering van de sociale overeenkomst van de maritieme arbeidsconventie (en)

SPEECH/08/375

Antonio TAJANI

Vice-President of the Commission

Celebration of the social agreement on the ILO maritime labour convention

Port of Brussels 3 July 2008

I am happy to celebrate the agreement of the social partners on the International Labour Organisation Maritime Labour Convention with you.

You have well understood the stakes and you have positively replied to the Commission's consultation in the framework of the social dialogue. The agreement resulting from it constitutes a decisive stage in the enforcement of the Convention at European level.

Your agreement is a major success for the social dialogue (as my colleague Vladimír Špidla has just underlined) and it is also very important for maritime transport.

The directive enabling your agreement to be incorporated into Community law is part of the social package just adopted by the Commission. This concretely shows the willingness to have it in a high position for social aspects of transports and also on the European policy agenda. I underlined it on 16 June during my hearing in front of the European Parliament.

I know how hard the social partners worked to make the MLC a success. This text is highly symbolic since it somehow constitutes the first international labour code. Its impact is broad. The Convention organises, in a consistent framework, standards governing the different aspects of the labour relationship on board merchant ships concerning employment conditions, working conditions as well as social security rules.

In fact, qualifications of seafarers and working conditions are actually both sides of the same coin. The maritime transport industry needs qualified seafarers and the attractiveness of the sector goes together with social rules both recognised and applied. This is also a stake for maritime safety since it is well known that a high proportion of accidents find their cause in human factor.

 You have wished to have almost all matters of the Convention eligible for a social agreement integrated into Community law.

 As you requested in transmitting your agreement to the Commission, my services will now, without waiting for the adoption of the directive, which is part of the social package, launch the preparatory works for an enforcement text. I wish to associate you with this task.

Thus, when the Convention and the European instruments have entered into force, the European Union will have means to guarantee fairer conditions of competition for the operators. We will be able to ensure that minimum universal standards provided by the Convention will be effectively enforced in our ports and that the undue advantages in competition benefiting to those who disregard the most basic social rules will come to an end.

The European Union will contribute to protect the seafarers from unfair competition and at the same time to revalue the maritime profession and to make it more attractive.

This objective is ambitious and illustrates the added value of the European Union action which is consistent with the action pursued by the Commission with the third package on maritime safety and which in particular aims at reducing the risk of maritime accidents and to make it more difficult for operators disregarding the basic rules.

The proposal is now on the Council's table. I can only encourage you to take over the message of a quick adoption to the Member States governments.

Your agreement and the ensuing Community law cannot have the effect of releasing the Member States from their responsibilities: it is for them to make the Convention enter into force by ratifying it without delay. I intend to regularly remind them of it.

I am really willing to develop it during my mandate by relying on social dialogue.

As we are today kindly hosted by the harbour of Brussels, I would also like to remind you that the port policy I intend to promote has also to rely on the dialogue between social partners. This dialogue should be a privileged instrument to contribute to a better understanding and to a sound management of change in European ports.

 I would like to conclude by evoking the more general issue of employment in the maritime transport sector.

I will present a communication on the strategic priorities for maritime transport by 2018 to the College of Commissioners during next autumn.

The ongoing consultation with the Member States' experts and those from the maritime industries highlight the existing concern at all levels on the issue of human factor and the shortage of European professionals. Some of you have taken part in this consultation and I thank them for their contributions. We need now to establish the conditions for the sound functioning of maritime transport as a strategic sector for Europe.

You can be sure that reasserting the value of maritime careers, attracting vocations and promoting quality jobs in the maritime industries are amongst my main priorities.

Thank you.