A4-0036/97

Resolution on the Commission's communication to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled 'Shaping Europe's maritime future - a contribution to the competitiveness of maritime industries' (COM(96)0084 - C4-0211/96)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission communication, COM(96)0084 - C4-0211/96,

- having regard to its resolution of 29 June 1995 ((OJ C 183, 17.7.1995, p. 26.)) on the Commission communication concerning an industrial competitiveness policy for the European Union (COM(94)0319 - C4-0140/94) and its opinion of 27 October 1995 ((OJ C 308, 20.11.1995, p. 470.)) on the proposal for a Council Decision on implementation of a Community action programme to strengthen the competitiveness of European industry (COM(95)0087 - C4-0404/95 - 95/0081 (CNS)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the opinions of the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy, the Committee on External Economic Relations, the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection (A4-0036/97),

A. whereas maritime industries, including transport, shipbuilding, repairing, natural resources, fishing and port services, have a long-established position of crucial importance in the economic life of European nations and in particular in the maritime regions of Europe,

B. whereas many regions covered by Objective 1 of the Structural Funds are highly dependent in social and economic terms on specific sectors linked to maritime industries and whereas the OECD agreement on the shipbuilding and ship repairing industry will entail social and economic consequences at regional level,

C. recalling that maritime industries employ more than 2.5 million people and that 90% of Europe's exports and 30% of its internal trade are carried by sea,

D. whereas maritime industries have the potential to make an even more substantial contribution to the welfare of the European citizen by means of increased competitiveness and support of an aggressive commercial policy of the European Community worldwide,

E. whereas demand for maritime services is forecast to expand dramatically over the next fifteen years due to a prospective doubling of sea-borne trade; stressing also the need for massive renewal of an ageing fleet as well as the introduction of a new generation of safer, faster, more highly specialized and more environment-friendly seafaring vessels,

F. whereas over the last two decades maritime industries in Europe and the fleet under a European flag have suffered a decline relative to other industrial regions of the world; whereas the decline in shipbuilding, ship-repairing and equipment reached 82.5% between 1985 and 1994,

G. whereas both economic and strategic considerations make it necessary for such decline to be not merely halted but reversed,

H. whereas comparative advantages to underpin the process of such reversal cannot and should not be sought in a policy of low-wage competition with the emerging industrial nations, because the human factor is an essential component of safety in the maritime sector,

I. whereas technical progress, diligently but also intensively applied, can both counterbalance the low wages cost advantage of other areas and open the way to entirely new products and methods capable of reasserting the technological leadership of Europe in the field worldwide,

J. whereas the sum total of methods and techniques encompassed under the collective name of 'information society' constitutes a virtually inexhaustible pool of potential innovations in the maritime area,

K. whereas higher levels of efficiency, security and environmental protection can only be achieved by the parallel and combined efforts of all sectors of maritime industry, taking however into account the proper balance among the various sectors and, to the extent that it arises in the normal course of business and is not the result of restrictive practices, their distinction into leader and follower sectors,

L. whereas technical progress embodied in capital equipment can yield its full benefits only if accompanied by a parallel upgrading of the skills and knowledge of the human factors of production, in which investment in knowledge and skills and lifelong learning should have high priority,

M. aware that the renovation required in the maritime industries presupposes investment funding of dimensions unlikely to be forthcoming from the internal accumulation of the sector in its present state of profitability and that this raises questions of financing that must be resolved,

N. whereas the international character of the industry makes it necessary to liberalize access to cargoes, port and service facilities worldwide while competition in the sector is sometimes distorted both by means of private alliances as well as by measures of government intervention,

O. recalling the failure to implement previous Commission proposals such as the one referring to a Community shipping register (EUROS),

1. Supports the premise that an increase in competitiveness in maritime industries does not enter in conflict with the interests of other sectors but is supportive of them and is consistent with the broad philosophy stipulated in Article 130 of the EC Treaty;

2. Is of the opinion that enhancing competitiveness means tackling the causes of decline in industrial productivity and that among the main causes the following must draw special attention:

(a) institutional fragmentation of competence between the Community institutions and the competent authorities of the Member States, as to decision making and legislation,

(b) serious delays in the implementation of measures completing the single market in the maritime industries,

(c) costly and inefficient infrastructure,

(d) limited dissemination of technological innovation,

(e) inadequate preparation of human resources;

3. Underlines the importance of good human resources management, particularly training in the maritime sector as a factor in competitiveness;

4. Points out that the Structural Funds have an important role to play in the provision and maintenance of basic infrastructure and in investment in vocational training, thereby boosting the factors which promote competitiveness;

5. Is of the opinion that any major revision of national regulations should be coordinated by the EU and should be guided by the following principles:

(a) the regulatory climate should be supportive of innovation and should eliminate patchy enforcement,

(b) EC legislation should be enacted in all six sectors of maritime industries if and only if the benefits exceed the costs;

6. Believes that the process of globalization resulting from capital liberalization, technological advance and deregulation of financial markets and the consequent changes in the role of the State imply that in the maritime industries, the State can no longer act as entrepreneur but should intervene as guide, third party and regulator;

7. Recalls that technical progress has changed the production processes, modifying the industrial approach based on mass production and economies of scale towards the production of specific equipment directed to individual tasks, and has shortened the life cycle of investments and transformed traditional industrial products into service activities;

8. Supports a public policy favourable to the linkage of university and other research with industrial practice and to the acceleration of commercial applications of research to maritime industries;

9. Calls on the Commission to include, in the amendments to Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the impact of certain public and private projects on the environment ((OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.)), the installation and dismantling of marine oil platforms;

10. Invites the Commission to establish a permanent procedure for identifying new needs and future commercial outlets and, in line with that, strengthen all existing programmes and organize new research and development programmes geared towards advanced technology activities and properly monitored as to their results;

11. Supports the Commission's concern with safety and environmental protection as crucial determinants of maritime policy and stresses that proper regard to these aspects of maritime industrial activity should not clash with considerations of efficiency but should be used as an important means of enhancing the competitiveness of European industry;

12. Welcomes the Commission's proposal aimed at eliminating substandard vessels from EU waters through strict enforcement of international rules on safety and environmental protection; if substandard vessels nevertheless enter Community waters they should be admitted to harbours, but forbidden to leave until the rules have been complied with;

13. Calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of liability being shared between shipowners and oil cargo owners in a way which requires cargo owners to contribute more substantially towards costs resulting from oil spills;

14. Calls on the Commission to monitor the activities of the Member States as regards compliance with Directive 96/39/EEC ((OJ L 195, 7.8.1996, p. 7.)) on the minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods, such as fossil fuels and certain chemical products;

15. Calls upon the Commission to instigate, among the Member States chiefly concerned, discussions regarding the replacement of antiquated tankers by tankers with higher safety specifications, with the aim of eventually issuing a recommendation on these matters, keeping also in mind the need for commercial viability of such vessels;

16. Asks the Commission to treat the matter of human capital as a matter of great urgency and encourage among Member States the immediate upgrading of existing, as well as the inauguration of new, training schemes for all and especially for the lower grades of maritime professions, the mutual recognition of nautical diplomas and the decisive orientation of training towards modern technology in such a manner as to make 1997 the year of a human capital revolution in marine industries,

17. Calls for action to be taken on the requests made in Parliament's resolution of 18 June 1996 ((OJ C 198, 8.7.1996, p. 44.)) on the communication from the Commission on the development of short sea shipping in Europe - prospects and challenges (COM(95)0317 - C4- 0297/95), so as to encourage the building of new types of ship, and the introduction of appropriate transport techniques and port installations;

18. Calls for the European maritime industry to be developed also by means of new intermodal logistics systems which encourage links between sea transport and land or air transport;

19. Calls upon the Commission to formulate a proposal regarding the conditions and characteristics of systems of unloading of effluent from ships (used oil, garbage, bilge water) in ports or other appropriate maritime stations;

20. Calls for pilot projects in short sea shipping to be devised and implemented, provided they do not cause distortions of competition between transport modes or between shipping companies or ports in all Member States, and for the results of these projects to be widely disseminated;

21. Considers that as one of the most powerful trading blocs in the world, the European Union should have a competitive maritime industry, efficient ports and have a production capacity in the shipbuilding sector capable of meeting its needs into the next century;

22. Points to the importance of promoting inland waterway transport and providing interconnections with other forms of transport, following an intermodal approach whereby inland waterways would be encompassed within the trans- European network projects and the support for new communications arteries granted under the Structural Funds; notes also that inland waterway transport could perform a key role in terms of industrial competitiveness and as a substitute for the road network;

23. In the interests of greater competitiveness, calls on the Commission to allow naval shipyards, when competing for civilian contracts within the EU, to receive the same subsidy as civilian yards;

24. Supports the European Union's efforts to persuade other countries to make significant commitments on uninhibited access to international maritime transport markets (cargoes, auxiliary and port services) and asks the Commission to intervene whenever it appears that European maritime companies are denied fair and equal access to such opportunities;

25. Welcomes, especially in view of the cross-frontier nature of most parts of the maritime industry and developments internationally, initiatives that result in combining forces at European level such as the task force AMRIE and the MARIS initiative;

26. Is convinced that with the support and close cooperation of all parties involved (shipowners, shipbuilders, port authorities, subcontractors) the European Union should establish a new maritime policy for the 21st century, aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the whole sector in the world market;

27. Stresses the challenge and extraordinary opportunity offered by the recent adoption of Decision 1692/96/EC ((OJ L 228, 9.9.1996, p. 1.)) on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, which among its plans for integrated maritime transport networks includes ports, combined transport, the shipping management and information network and the positioning and navigation network;

28. Asks the Commission to clarify the rules about how far Member States and local authorities could support the port infrastructures in order to guarantee fair and equal competition;

29. Asks the Commission to undertake a special study of the financial aspects of maritime industry, identifying potential new sources of investment funds as well as new ways of mobilizing existing capital resources;

30. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the European Maritime Industries Forum.