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ETF Welcomes European Commission's Communication

28 January 2009

In the European Commission’s Communication entitled “Strategic Goals and Recommendations for the EU’s Maritime Transport Policy Until 2018,” new challenges that will affect the maritime transport sector in the upcoming years are addressed. The Commission, as the ETF believes, acknowledges at last the serious need to address the human element, in part by emphasizing the attractiveness of a maritime profession to young Europeans, by facilitating lifelong career prospects, and/or by upgrading seafarers’ competences.

In chapter 3 of the Communication entitled “Human resources, seamanship and maritime knowhow”, the ETF notes with a certain satisfaction that the Commission is accurate in its assessment of pertinent issues, whilst they are also in agreement that the allocation of specific resources would be necessary to the reversal of negative employment trends in the shipping sector. “In the end, the Commission seems to share with us some of our concerns when it
comes to preserve the EU maritime know-how and secure the future of European seafarers, being officers or ratings” declared Philippe Alfonso, ETF Political Secretary for Maritime Transport. The Commission rightly states that problems such as the growing shortage of maritime skills, and the low social status sometimes associated with the shipping profession should be solved with some urgency. In that context, the Commission intends to provide young workers with long life career prospects, encourage the creation of centres of excellence for maritime training in Europe, and promote recruitment campaigns. The ETF reacts positively to those intentions and takes the Commission at its word.

The ETF is particularly pleased to acknowledge the Commission’s intention to set up a task force in charge of identifying ways to “strike the right balance between the employment conditions of EU seafarers and the competitiveness of the European fleet”. The creation of such a task force was strongly advocated by the ETF Charter for EU Seafarers[1]. The ETF will do its utmost to ensure that its position will be reflected positively in its work.

The Commission also emphasizes the principle of genuine link in its communication, along with the issue of the fair treatment of seafarers. The ETF is pleased that the Commission has finally recognized the importance of these issues, and hopes that it will continue to advance positively in this domain. Contrarily, the ETF doubts the compatibility of the proposed initiatives with the focus placed on the competition and liberalisation of trade in maritime services. Furthermore, the ETF disagrees with the Commission when it says that the Community Guidelines for State aids for maritime transport have contributed to generating jobs for European seafarers. The ETF believes that the Guidelines have little impact, if any, on the employment of European seafarers. Therefore, the ETF calls on the Commission to provide evidence of its claims found in this Communication, so that the link between employment and tax exemptions can be better assessed. In any case, the Commission must propose a better system of incentives aimed at encouraging EU employment in the maritime sector.

With regards to the other Communication that was released on Wednesday 21 January 2008, the Action Plan that seeks to establish a European maritime transport space without barriers2, the ETF regrets that it is strictly limited to the elimination and/or reduction of administrative procedures applied to goods shipped by sea between European ports. This proposal completely neglects the human element, and lacks any reference to the potential benefits for seafarers.
The ETF has already expressed its disappointment in this approach. It has stated that the purpose of an EU maritime space should be to create an area in which competition can exist on the basis of quality.

The ETF is fully aware that that there remains a lot of work to be done before the good intentions expressed in the proposal for a future EU maritime transport policy can be realized in concrete terms. Thus, the downwards trend in the number of EU seafarers can be reversed while simultaneously promoting quality jobs for Europeans in the sector. For that reason, the ETF calls on the Commission to seriously address the above mentioned objectives. The ETF further asks to be fully involved and consulted when specific policies that could affect European Seafarers will be implemented.

The ETF and its affiliated organisations will now take the necessary time for examining further the whole set of proposals before producing a detailed Position Paper reflecting its viewpoints.

[1] This Charter was handed over to Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Transport, on the 14th of October 2008, upon the conclusion of a Euro-demonstration where more than 1200 seafarers congregated on the streets of Brussels in order to call upon policymakers to join forces with unions for “more and better jobs at sea”.

Please contact Philippe Alfonso, Political Secretary, Maritime Transport, Dockers and Fisheries, for more information. Tel: +32 (0)2 285 45 84. GSM: +32.496.65.79.15. Email: p.alfonso@etf-europe.org

ENDS

Related documents:

PR on Strategic goals for EU's maritime transport (45kb PDF)

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