Commission issues maritime employment protection proposals

At the end of April 1998, the European Commission launched two legislative proposals promoting the harmonisation of working conditions in the European maritime sector, in order to counter situations of unfair competition associated with the employment of workers who are not covered by minimum levels of social protection.

On 29 April 1998, the European Commission presented two legislative proposals aimed at preventing the risk of "social dumping" in passenger ferry transport.

Firstly, the Commission presented a proposal for a Directive which aims to ensure that the conditions of employment for third-country crew members on passenger ferry services between Member States are comparable with those of EU citizens working in the same market. These conditions must be the same as those applicable in the Member State where the vessel is registered or, if it is registered in a non-EU country, those of the EU Member State that has the closest transport links (ie where the service operates and where the seafarers concerned live). The proposal covers maximum working time, minimum rest breaks, paid annual leave, health and safety provisions, maternity rights and anti-discriminatory measures.

The initiative comes in response to alarming figures that attribute 51% of job losses within the maritime sector between 1985 and 1995 to transfers of registry, whereby operators use vessels and crews registered in third countries due to lower costs of social protection. This problem has historically affected the cargo sector but there are concerns that similar problems will hit the passenger ferry industry. The Commission estimates that at present time, approximately 3% of employment in the ferry industry is accounted for by third-country nationals who have inferior working conditions and levels of social protection.

The second proposal is similar in nature, but is concerned with "cabotage" services (transport services between two ports within the same country). This draft Regulation prescribes that the rules relating to the percentage of the crew that must be Member State nationals are the same as the rules that pertain in the host Member State where the cabotage service is offered. Where the Member State permits a certain proportion of third-country nationals, it must ensure that these crew members benefit from the same working conditions as those that operate in the country where the vessel is registered.

Both proposals have the aim of promoting the employment of Member State nationals in the passenger ferry industry, as well as creating a "level playing-field" through the harmonisation of social protection systems. The Commissioner responsible for transport, Neil Kinnock, said that: "If competition increases to the point where operators start firing EU seafarers and instead employing third-country nationals ... and have not even minimum standards of social protection, then it is the maritime sector as a whole that will suffer."