WRITTEN QUESTION No. 422/99 by Ernesto CACCAVALE Italy's failure to transpose the recent European legislation on working time in the sea transport sector
Date: 1999-03-01
Institutions: CACCAVALE, European Parliament
Subjects: Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, Italy, arrangement of working time, living conditions, maritime transport, occupational health, occupational safety, rest period, working conditions, working time













EUR-Lex - 91999E0422 - EN






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91999E0422

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 422/99 by Ernesto CACCAVALE Italy's failure to transpose the recent European legislation on working time in the sea transport sector  


Official Journal C 341 , 29/11/1999 P. 0110 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0422/99by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission(1 March 1999)Subject: Italy's failure to transpose the recent European legislation on working time in the sea transport sectorThe Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers adopted on 9 December 1989 by the Strasbourg European Council stated that the completion of the internal market must lead to an improvement in the living and working conditions of workers in the European Community, and accordingly set a maximum limit on the duration of the working week and made provision for minimum rest periods and suitable breaks.Directive 93/104/EC(1) concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time laid down minimum safety and health requirements as regards the organisation of working time, but excluded some sectors, including that of sea transport, from its scope.In November 1998, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a directive (COM(98) 0662) which sought to integrate and extend the scope of the 1993 Directive to those sectors which had previously been excluded, thereby establishing a maximum limit on working hours in the sea transport sector.Recent Italian laws on the subject still do not make any reference to the sea transport sector, and some shipping companies still have working hours which exceed the limits provided for by European legislation, with more than six or seven hours of daily overtime being worked in some cases.Given the above, would the Commission state what action it intends to take to ensure that Italy transposes the new Community legislation as soon as possible, so as to fill this gap in its national legislation and comply with European minimum standards.Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission(20 April 1999)On 18 November 1998 the Commission adopted a proposal based on Article 4(2) of the agreement on social policy for a Council directive 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)(2). Once the directive is adopted by the Council and after the expiry of the implementation period, the Commission, as the guardian of the EC Treaty, will take the necessary measures to ensure that the directive's provisions are fully implemented and enforced by the Member States.(1) OJ L 307, 13.12.1993, p. 18.(2) OJ C 43, 17.2.1999.