Mr President, this report that I am presenting today to this House on safety in fisheries and the causes of fishing accidents analyses, ladies and gentlemen, the reasons for the high accident rate in this sector, and examines aspects such as the European legislative framework, the problems surrounding the work of fishermen and preventing risks. Although the initiative to deal with this issue in Parliament came from the Group of the Party of the European Socialists, the work that is being presented to you today is the fruit of the work of many, including that of my colleagues, members of the Committee on Fisheries in the European Parliament, who worked very hard with me, and who finally adopted this report unanimously. There was also the hearing with experts in September, the invaluable contributions that I received from officials from the Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs and the European Parliament Directorate-General on Research and also the contributions made by the Advisory Committee on Fisheries. Everyone agreed on describing the job of fisherman (270 000 in the European Union) as a very dangerous profession, and also largely on the analysis of the reasons why fisheries has an accident rate that is up to 25 times higher than other economic sectors, and that one fisherman in seven in the European Union is involved in an occupational accident each year. This very high rate is due to a combination of very different causes: bad weather, long, very intense working days, payment systems, such as the so-called ‘catch-share payment’, which are not very comparable, a lack of collective negotiation, difficult working conditions, bad living conditions on board, isolation, separation from families and from the social environment, the remoteness of fishing grounds, the age of the fleet, etc. I reject the sceptical position and fatalistic view of those who think that fishing accidents are inevitable and that the victims of them are a price we have to pay to the sea. I think that we need to look for the causes of these accidents and deal with them. We need to make safety a priority. We have unacceptable accident rates and we need to step up controls, raise awareness among ship owners and fishermen and, if necessary, encourage legislative changes in order to reduce them. We need to consider the social and labour conditions of seafarers and improve their working conditions, as they endure irregular rest times and working patterns based on working days of more than 14 hours. This sector needs to be given a right to constant weekly and daily rest and, if necessary, the public authorities should intervene in order to impose what is the fundamental right of any worker. These hard working conditions mean, for example, that young people do not want to join the industry, which prevents the new generation from taking over. We need to establish social dialogue in the sector, at European level, in order to reach collective agreements incorporating these issues of safety at work, consult more with the sector, provide those working in fisheries with social protection similar to that of other workers and develop a culture of safety among employers and workers. The European Union does not even have statistical data; only five countries provide figures and they are not comparable. This issue should be taken into account when launching the third phase of the ‘European statistics on accidents at work’ project so that the Community can have reliable and complete data, harmonised at European level. My group has always thought that in this House we should talk not only about issues associated with fishing resources, but also about the human problems that affect seafarers. Therefore, my report asks that the conclusions reached should be included in the regulations on the reform of the CFP, so that the triangle made up of legislation, training and social dialogue can be included. I also urge the Member States who have not yet done so to ratify the international conventions and improve the Community directives which at this moment in time do not cover up to 90% of the fleet. I also point out in my report that flags of convenience do not provide work or safety guarantees to their crews, which entails serious risks for fishermen working on board these vessels. In summary, ladies and gentlemen, this is a report about an issue that has not been dealt with so far. It is the first of these reports and will possibly be followed by second and third reports on accidents in fisheries. I hope that, as it is the first one, you will look tolerantly upon its defects and support it.

Political group: PSE