COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION of 18 November 1998 on ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 180 concerning seafarers' hours of work and the manning of ships, and ratification of the 1996 Protocol to the 1976 Merchant Shipping (minimum standards) Convention (notified under document number C(1999) 372) (1999/130/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 155, second indent, thereof,

Whereas ILO Convention 180 concerning seafarers' hours of work and the manning of ships, adopted at the 84th maritime session of the International Labour Conference of 22 October 1996, prescribes working and resting hours for seamen working on board ships;

Whereas the Convention's aims, promotion of the health and safety of workers, the improvement of maritime safety and the protection of the marine environment, are also objectives of the Community;

Whereas the 1996 Protocol to Convention 147 on Merchant Shipping (minimum standards) of 1976, which was adopted at the same time as Convention 180, includes in its additional annex Convention 180 concerning seafarers' hours of work and the manning of ships of 1996;

Whereas Article 4 of the Merchant Shipping (minimum standards) Convention to which the 1996 Protocol refers back, stipulates that a country that has ratified the Convention may inspect a ship calling in at one of its ports so as to verify that the living, working and safety conditions of the crew conform with the provisions of the Conventions annexed to the Merchant Shipping Convention;

Whereas the Commission has just submitted to the Council a proposal for a Directive, adopted under the Social Protocol, on the Europe Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers, which is based on Convention 180;

Whereas this proposal only covers seamen working on ships flying Member State flags;

Whereas the provisions on the working time of seafarers can only be applied and enforced in the Community in respect of ships flying third country flags if Convention 180 takes effect and if the 1996 Protocol to the 1976 Merchant Shipping (minimum standards) Convention is ratified by the Member States of the Community;

Whereas the entry into force of Convention 180 and of the 1996 Protocol to the 1976 Merchant Shipping (minimum standards) Convention will enable the Member States which have ratified Convention 180 and the 1996 Protocol to monitor, on the basis of a Council Directive, the application of Convention 180's working time rules on all ships calling in at Community ports;

Whereas compliance with Convention 180 will help improve maritime safety in the European Union and put ships flying Member State flags on an equal footing with those flying the flags of the various third countries;

Whereas it is desirable that the Directive on the application of the working hours of seamen on board ships calling in at Community ports should enter into force at the same time as the Directive on implementation of the Europe Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers and, to this end, it is important that the Member States ratify Convention 180 and the 1996 Protocol and deposit the instruments of ratification with the International Labour Office as soon as possible,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

1. Member States which have not yet done so be requested to ratify ILO Convention 180 concerning seafarers' hours of work and the manning of ships, adopted on 20 October 1996

2. Member States which have not yet done so be requested to ratify the 1996 Protocol to Convention 147 on Merchant Shipping (minimum standards) of 1976

3. Member States be requested to inform the Commission within one year of publication of this recommendation of the measures taken to implement it.

Done at Brussels, 18 November 1998.

For the Commission

Pádraig FLYNN

Member of the Commission