Haarlem, 19/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Noting a lack of worker mobility in the inland waterway transport industry, the European Commission presented a draft directive on Thursday 18 February on the recognition of professional qualifications in the sector.
This directive would replace Directives 91/672/EEC on the reciprocal recognition of national boat masters' certificates for the carriage of goods and passengers by inland waterway and 96/50/EC on the harmonisation of the conditions for obtaining national boat masters' certificates for the carriage of goods and passengers by inland waterway in the Community.
These two directives restrict mutual recognition of boat masters' certificates to those sailing other than on the Rhine, which river comes under the responsibility of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine (CCNR). The sector is suffering from low worker mobility, a shortage of qualified workers and a large number of jobs waiting to be filled.
The Commission proposes to extend mutual recognition of vocational qualifications to all crew members as well as boat masters, and including those who sail on the Rhine. It proposes to base the recognition of the professional qualifications on the skills and competences needed for the operation of the vessels. It proposes, too, to introduce common standards with regard to assessment of competence, approval of training programmes and monitoring and evaluation of certification and training.
The proposal was informed, inter alia, by the work of the Common Expert Group (CEG) on professional qualifications and training standards in inland navigation, which met from September 2012 to November 2014, the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Inland Waterway Transport and the public consultation conducted in 2013.
In June of last year, inland waterway transport was discussed at the Transport Council with a view to clarifying the legal framework on arrangements for inland waterway navigation within the EU (see EUROPE 11333) and the specific technical features of the vessels. A short time before, the CCNR had approved the establishment of a European Committee for drawing up Standards in Inland Navigation (CESNI) to harmonise rules and technical standards. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)