WRITTEN QUESTION E-2069/01 by Maria Martens (PPE-DE), Albert Maat (PPE-DE) and Karla Peijs (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Recognition of diplomas in shipping.
Date: 2001-07-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Germany, crew, maritime transport, recognition of diplomas, recognition of vocational training qualifications, vocational training

14.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/177

(2002/C 40 E/190)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2069/01

by Maria Martens (PPE-DE), Albert Maat (PPE-DE)
and Karla Peijs (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(13 July 2001)

Subject: Recognition of diplomas in shipping

Ships sail under the flag of a country. As a general rule, they sail under a captain of the same nationality as
the flag. In a few cases that can be difficult, in particular where no captains can be found with the same
nationality as the flag. That is the case in the fisheries sector. German law requires German fisheries vessels
to sail under German captains. But there are too few German captains. Captains of other nationalities are
available, in particular Dutch ones. The potential of the fisheries sector is being severely restricted by that
German law, which is tantamount to non-recognition of the training of ships(cid:146) captains.

How does the Commission assess problems in the fisheries sector relating to the recognition of

1.
diplomas?

2.

Do the Commission(cid:146)s efforts in the area of diploma recognition cover training as a ship(cid:146)s captain?

Can the Commission state where the obligation to sail under a captain of the same nationality as the

3.
flag stands in relation to European rules and regulations applicable to the free movement of labour?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 2001)

The Commission is not aware of any problems in the fisheries sector relating to the recognition of
diplomas. In the case in question, anyone of German nationality who has received captain(cid:146)s training in
another Member State may obtain recognition in Germany of the diploma attesting their training,
in
accordance with the rules contained in Directive 89/48/EEC on a general system for the recognition of
higher education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least
3 years(cid:146) duration (1) or 92/51/EEC on a second general system for the recognition of professional
education, supplementing Directive 89/48/EEC (2). Generally speaking, the rules are as follows: the diploma
must be recognised unless the authorities of the host Member State (cid:129) Germany in this case (cid:129) establish
that there are substantial differences between the training of captains in Germany and the training followed
by the applicant. In that case, they are entitled to oblige the applicant to undergo an aptitude test or to
complete an adaptation period, leaving the applicant the right to choose between the two.

The Honourable Members(cid:146) attention is drawn to the Commission(cid:146)s answer to written question E-3440/97
by Mrs Van Dijk (3) concerning the question of nationality condition for the captain and the first officer of
ships sailing under the flag of a Member State.

The Commission maintains this position; therefore the obligation to sail under a captain of the same
nationality as the flag does not violate the Community rules on free movement of workers.

(1) OJ L 19, 24.1.1989.
(2) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992.
(3) OJ C 174, 8.6.1998.