Brussels, 29/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 29 > April, the European Commission unveiled a draft directive amending working conditions in the fisheries sector, based on a 2012 agreement by employers and European trade unions (see EUROPE 10617).
In line with the Treaties, the European Commission's proposal includes the social partners' agreement word for word, which aims to implement at EU level the 2007 International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention on work in the fisheries sector.
The Commission says the most eagerly expected benefits will be improvements in working and living conditions - that is too say, working time, minimum age, medical certificates, risk assessment, board, lodging and water on board and medical treatment on ship.
An impact study carried out by the Commission shows that only ten of the proposed measures have no equivalent in EU law regarding. the obligation on a member state to organise repatriation (not necessarily free-of-charge) if the ship-owner does not do so; the requirement of having a valid medical certificate for working on a ship more than 24 metres long; the right to medical treatment on land, the cost of which is to be borne by the ship-owner if not reimbursed by sickens insurance; the right to social security coverage for non-EU fishermen; and measures relating to the medical certificate.
The directive is not expected to generate huge costs or have an impact on the EU's budget. The costs, particularly for repatriation, medical certificates and risk assessments, could be between €1.3 million and €8 million. While this would only represent 0.11 of the annual turnover in the sector, the Commission says that there could be a potential profit when it comes to social security in the form of savings of up to nearly €20 million.
The member states whose legislation is the farthest removed from the proposed new measures are Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. The only member states that would not have to adjust their current legislation are Germany, Denmark, France and Croatia. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)