Brussels, 03/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - The legislative texts on social policy adopted on Wednesday 2 July by the European Commission (see EUROPE 9695) include a proposal for a directive on implementation of the agreement concluded by the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Federation (ETF) concerning the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) 2006 Maritime Labour Convention and amending Directive 1999/63/EC. The text suggests integrating international norms and standards for maritime workers into European legislation, following the agreement reached by the European social partners in the maritime sector.
Welcoming the Commission's adoption of the renewed social agenda, Commission Vice-president and Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani declared this was a “clear step forward in favour of a Europe that is closer to its citizens in a period of economic recession and surging oil prices”. He stressed that “two fundamental issues” concern the transport sector in particular. He explained that, first of all, the proposal for a directive recognises new rights for maritime workers ranging from the ban on night work for workers under the age of 18 to medical care and the right to repatriation. The Commission, he said, has also undertaken to review the functioning of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund by extending its scope to take in the transport sector. Workers of the sector will, among other things, be able to benefit from compensation allowing them to find other employment, social inclusion insurance and an allowance to cover reinsertion on the labour market.
The agreement between the ECSA and the ETF on the ILO Maritime Labour Convention for 2006 was celebrated on Thursday 3 July by Mr Tajani, Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, and by representatives of social partners on the vessel, Bioul, in the port of Brussels. (G.B./transl.jl)