WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3295/97 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Measures in favour of radio operators
Date: 1997-10-20
Institutions: ALAVANOS, European Parliament
Subjects: Structural Funds, crew, merchant fleet, older worker, professional qualifications, radio telecommunications, social security, technological change, termination of employment, vocational retraining

25. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 158/81

women.  Within the Community, these issues are covered by existing Community legislation. In third countries,
the Commission would look to the International labour organisation (ILO) to help ensure such equality. The
WTO ministerial in Singapore in December 1996 agreed that the ILO was the competent body to set and deal
with internationally recognised core labour standards. WTO ministers affirmed their support for the ILO(cid:146)s work
in promoting those standards.

(98/C 158/104)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3295/97

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(20 October 1997)

Subject: Measures in favour of radio operators

The post of merchant navy radio operator is being definitively dropped as an integral part of the crew of merchant
vessels  in  the  Member  States  from  1  February  1999,  owing  to  a  switch  in  technology.  This  will  cause  huge
employment problems for a whole category of workers, in particular unemployed elderly workers without any
other professional skills who cannot be included in new training programmes on account of their age and health
problems.

Will the Commission say:

1.  What social protection measures have been taken by the Member States in favour of radio operators?

2.  What programmes are to be used to help radio operators overcome the serious problems facing them, and

notably social exclusion?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(5 December 1997)

Apart from measures aimed at achieving equal treatment for men and women in the field of social security and
measures to protect persons moving within the Community, the Commission(cid:146)s activities in the field of social
protection are restricted to the promotion of cooperation between the Member States, the latter being responsible
for all the actual decisions in respect of specific measures.

In conjunction with the Community information system on social protection and the report on social protection in
Europe,  the  Commission  has  developed  databases  on  the  Member  States(cid:146)  social  protection  systems.  These
databases only contain information of a general nature. As far as specific occupational groups are concerned,
such as radio operators, the Commission neither receives nor has at its disposal any information.

No  general  Reply  can  be  given  to  the  question  of  whether  aid  measures  could  be  incorporated  into  the
Community(cid:146)s regional and structural policy instruments. A case-by-case examination would be necessary in this
connection.

The Structural Funds(cid:146) Objective 4 is designed to facilitate the adaptation of workers to industrial change and to
changes in production systems. Such changes may be linked to technological progress or to work organisation
and production management.

Objective 4 focuses primarily on workers who, owing to their age, their low level of education or their vocational
background,  are  threatened  with  unemployment  because  they  have  difficulty  in  adjusting  to  the  new
requirements. The aim is to consolidate the employment of such workers, especially through the provision of
advice and through training and retraining.

The  provision  of  guidance  and  advice  is  intended  to  define  abilities  (vocational  and  personal  skills),  and  to
determine the workers(cid:146) motivation and capacity for work which they might be able to perform after undergoing
training. Such training may cover not only the technical skills required for a specific job or task but also the
acquisition of general knowledge.