WRITTEN QUESTION E-1637/03

by Catherine Stihler (PSE) to the Commission

(16 May 2003)

Subject: Conditions of employees on board cruise ships

The report Sweatships: What it is really like to work on board cruise ships, published recently by War on Want and the International Transport Workers' Federation, details very poor working conditions on board cruise ships. These include low salaries, illegal charges to get a job, sometimes amounting to as much as GBP 1 000, opposition to the forming of workers' trade unions and evasion of minimum wage legislation via the use of flags of convenience registration.

Ratification of the ILO Maritime Convention would assist in tackling these abuses. What action is the Commission taking in regard to pressing Member States to sign up to the ILO Maritime Convention?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 2003)

Bearing in mind that living and working conditions are crucial for seafaring profession and may also affect seafarers' performance, the Commission makes every effort to ensure, throughout the Union, the application of the existing Community social provisions that apply also to seafarers. The Commission would like to underline that Directive 1999/63/EC(1), implementing the Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers concluded by the social partners, applies to seafarers on board every sea-going ship, whether publicly or privately owned, which is registered in the territory of any Member State and is ordinarily engaged in commercial maritime operations. It lays down minimum requirements concerning the working conditions of seafarers, notably maximum weekly working time, minimal age to work at night or on board a ship, annual paid leave, etc. The deadline for transposition of the Directive into national law was 30 June 2002.

On the other hand, Directive 1999/95/EC(2) provides a mechanism for the verification and enforcement of compliance by ships calling at ports of Member States with Directive 1999/63/EC in order to improve maritime safety, working conditions and the health and safety of seafarers on board ships. It applies therefore to every ship calling at ports of a Member State, irrespective of the place of registration.

It is also deeply concerned about the inconsistent record of the Member States in ratifying some of the international Conventions of the International Labour Office (ILO) dictating minimum international maritim labour standards.

In this regard, the Commission is following very closely the developments within the Member States, but also the Candidate countries,

as regards the ratification of the international requirements, as scarce ratification might as well jeopardise the consolidation process of all maritime Conventions recently instigated by the ILO in Geneva, on top of encouraging the subsistence of an uneven playing field.

(1) Council Directive 1999/63/EC of 21 June 1999 concerning the Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers concluded by the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) and the Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the European Union (FST), OJ L 167, 2.7.1999.

(2) Directive 1999/95/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 concerning the enforcement of provisions in respect of seafarers' hours of work on board ships calling at Community ports, OJ L 14, 20.1.2000.