Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the training and recruitment of seafarers"
Date: 2002-01-16
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: International Labour Organisation, crew, employment policy, humanisation of work, living conditions, maritime transport, professional qualifications

3.4.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 80/9

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the Commission
to the Council and the European Parliament on the training and recruitment of seafarers’

(2002/C 80/03)

On 19 April 2001 the European Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
communication.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 18 December 2001. The
rapporteur was Mr Chagas.

At its 387th plenary session of 16 and 17 January 2002 (meeting of 16 January) the Economic and Social
Committee adopted the following opinion by 94 votes in favour and two abstentions.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
The industry, the Member States and the Commission
have already addressed the issue of the declining number of
EU seafarers and the shortage of well-qualified seafarers on
several occasions, and have agreed on the need to identify
measures to tackle the problem. In 1996 the Commission
presented an analysis in its Communication ‘Towards a new
maritime strategy’ (1). In its Resolution of 24 March 1997 on a
new strategy to increase the competitiveness of Community
shipping (2), the Council of Ministers of the European Union
endorsed the Commission’s Communication and inter alia
recognised that positive measures were needed to foster the
employment of Community seafarers.

1.2.
Shipping is a vital activity for the EU with 90 % of the
Union’s external trade and over 35 % of its internal trade
relying on maritime transport. In oil transport the importance
of maritime transport from an environmental and strategic
point of view is even starker — 80 % of the Communities’ oil
requirements are imported and almost entirely by sea. EU
interests also control approximately one third of the world
merchant fleet. Maritime transport markets are regarded as
long-term growth markets. The EU therefore has a vital
economic interest in maintaining and extending maritime
transport markets and ensuring that it has an efficient and
competitive maritime transport industry and that it exerts
influence on international shipping policy. To this end, the EU
must have its own maritime shipping industry and it must
retain maritime expertise. It is therefore absolutely essential to
have EU seafarers employed both onboard ships and in land-
based enterprises connected with shipping.

1.3.
The current shortage of EU officers is estimated to be
13 000 rising to 36 000 by 2006. Over 60 % of EU officers

are over the age of 40 years. The total number of EU seafarers
employed on EU registered vessels fell from 1985 to the
present days by 40 % to 120 000, in contrast from 1983 non-
EU seafarers on the same ships increased by 19 % to
34 500. This is contrasted with continued investment by EU
shipowners in shipping and the commensurate growth of EU
controlled vessels registered under third countries’ flags.

1.4.
The Communication is therefore welcomed and its
tone is positive and encouraging. It will have a positive impact
if Member States waste no time in examining and taking up
the Commission’s proposals and the social partners in the
EU maritime shipping industry focus on implementing the
Commission’s proposals on which consensus has already
been reached, and on finding appropriate solutions to areas
identified within the communication where they are still
needed.

2. Summary of the Commission’s Communication

2.1.
The European Commission wishes to provide an
update on the decline in the number of EU seafarers and an
analysis of the reasons behind it, the possible implications for
the EU shipping community and the measures necessary to
reverse it.

2.2.
The Commission notes that the extent of the problems
varies from Member State to Member State and that in some
Member States only a few isolated measures have been taken
to eradicate this phenomenon. The Commission therefore
proposes a number of recommendations to stabilise and
increase the employment and training of seafarers and to
improve their living and working and employment conditions,
in particular:

(1) COM(96) 81 final — ESC Opinion: OJ C 56, 24.2.1997, p. 9.
(2) Council Resolution of 24 March 1997 on a new strategy to
increase the competitiveness of Community shipping OJ C 109,
8.4.1997, p. 1.

— correct application of Community and international
legislation concerning the living and working conditions
of seafarers and the quality of operations onboard ships;

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— the full use of available options in the 1997 EU State Aid

Guidelines;

— a discussion between social partners with a view to
concluding voluntary agreements on the employment
conditions of non-Community sailors on board EU
vessels;

— awareness campaigns to ‘enhance the image of maritime
transport’ and better information for potential students.
These campaigns may also provide a good opportunity
for promoting and facilitating access by women to
maritime professions;

— improvements in the living conditions of seafarers, mainly
by organising better rotation of activities at sea and on
land;

— improved Community training systems (guaranteeing a
sufficient number of places for officer training on board
ship);

— the use of existing Community instruments to support
maritime training (European Social Fund, Structural
Funds, Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Equal, etc.);

— the sponsoring of research projects on such problems, in
the context of the future sixth framework programme;

— supporting initiatives to increase contact between sea-

farers and families ashore through internet services, etc.

3. General comments

3.1.
The Commission acknowledges that, whilst the avail-
able research points to a statistical surplus of ratings, strong
reservations are held as to whether it can be concluded that
the situation within the EU is therefore satisfactory. The value
added on the recruitment and training of EU seafarers is
important and many ratings in the international labour market
making up the surplus may well lack the qualifications required
under IMO STCW Convention (1) once it is properly enforced.
Recent research provides evidence that there is a worrying

problem of fraudulent certification,
in particular amongst
ratings, in the international labour market casting doubt over
the validity of their certification. In addition, many ratings
from non-EU countries are unavailable to offset any shortage
of EU ratings from the labour markets because of cultural
differences, language problems and employment restrictions.
Greater consideration needs to be given to the issue of
recruitment and training of ratings within the EU.

The key problem, which the Commission acknowl-
3.2.
edges,
is that of unfair competition. There is a need to
ensure that EU registered vessels can compete with flags of
convenience and substandard shipping whilst maintaining and
developing the maximum compliance with EU standards and
EU crewing. It is therefore important that Member States make
full use of the Commission’s Guidelines on State Aid to
Maritime Transport. This is one way to ensure that EU
registered vessels can compete with flags of convenience and
substandard shipping.

3.3.
The Commission proposes further extension of the
information held on EQUASIS. Currently information on
social standards is provided by the International Transport
Workers Federation (ITF) but only in respect of
flag of
convenience and some Second/International Register vessels.
The provision of similar information into that data base for
EU flag ships must be addressed and the Committee therefore
supports the extension of EQUASIS to include information on
social conditions on EU flag vessels.

The Commission should investigate whether

3.4.
the
employment of EU seafarers could, in the long term, bring
about higher safety standards and environmental standards
onboard EU vessels, thereby giving rise to economic benefits,
e.g. in respect of the insurance markets.

3.5.
The Commission should investigate and evaluate, and
if necessary, conduct research into the economics of the intra
EU-shipping sector to determine the relationship between
freight rates and levels of EU seafarer employment. Existing
studies might be a starting point.

(1) International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification

and Watchkeeping.

3.6. Much of the Community’s response to the problems of
the shipping industry has been supply-side focused, aimed at
maintaining the attractiveness of EU seafarers to EU ship-
owners. Arguably, the time has come for more determined

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demand-side measures aimed at securing an environment in
which EU seafarers are not undercut in the market by cheaper
options from outside the Community. It is not considered to
be a sustainable position to maintain that EU seafarers can
remain competitive when access to the intra-European trades
is on the basis of the lowest possible social standards and
therefore based on unfair competition. Efforts are needed to
complement the internationally agreed standards of maritime
safety and pollution prevention with equally tough social
standards covering working and living conditions onboard
ships in EU waters.

3.7.
The Joint Maritime Commission of the ILO recently
adopted the ‘Geneva Accord’ which paves the way for the
development of a Seafarers’ Bill of Rights which will seek to
replace and update the plethora of ILO Maritime Conventions
and Recommendations. It is considered essential that EU input
should ensure the highest possible standards are provided for
in the eventual
instrument and ensure that it receives the
widest possible ratification and then proper enforcement.

3.8.
The Commission makes a great deal of the notion that
the shipping industry is failing to attract young people. It is
suggested that the picture is not a universal one as many
countries in the EU have no shortage of candidates, just a
shortage of opportunities. The Committee therefore believes it
is not a safe assumption that the seagoing career is universally
unattractive to EU citizens. The Committee does however feel
that greater use could be made of the EU State Aid Guidelines
to support initiatives designed to promote a career at sea and
to offer long-term employment opportunities to young people.

3.9.
Strategies to address the problems of decline of EU
seafarers need to focus on their value over third-country
nationals. One significant value must be value added derived
from EU seafarers,
including maintenance of the maritime
clusters within Member States.

establishing EU acceptable working conditions for non-EU
seafarers particularly in the context of EU enlargement.

It would be most beneficial for some research to be
3.11.
carried out on the impact of differing social costs in the
regional ferry sector. By way of an example the Irish Sea may
be a useful regional area for initial study to understand the
competitive forces at play and the impact of different social
costs. Out of a total of some 50 scheduled passenger and ferry
vessels trading between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and
the Republic of Ireland there are 29 flag of convenience vessels
employing Filipino, Polish and Spanish ratings at rates of pay
significantly below those payable to British and Irish seafarers
on similar vessels on the same trades. Recently one Bermudan
registered vessel replaced its British officers with Spanish
officers claiming savings in the region of US$ 300 000-
250 000 per annum. An Estonian registered vessel has also
joined the trade. The future looks very bleak for the remaining
British and Irish seafarers plying the Irish Sea. Other examples
could also be usefully examined including the Baltic Sea.

3.12.
The continued influx of cheaper crews is arguably
here to stay. Measures must be taken to ensure the impact on
EU seafarer wage levels is not to force them down making a
seagoing career even more unattractive.
is considered
essential that employment costs in respect of EU seafarers on
EU vessels should be adjusted in such a way as to ensure that
jobs onboard these vessels remain competitive in international
markets.

It

3.13.
The liberalisation of cabotage restrictions has done
little to improve the competitiveness of the EU fleet. A refocus
on the underlying objectives of this liberalisation needs to take
place to establish whether the EU maritime skills base has been
enhanced or damaged by the liberalisation. It is noted by the
Committee that the Fourth Report on Cabotage is currently
being prepared by the Commission and will include a section
on the impact on employment of EU seafarers.

There is a serious danger that the impact of cheaper
3.10.
crews on the levels of remuneration of EU seafarers will
undermine strategies to revive the EU maritime skills base. It is
therefore essential that actions be taken to ensure continued
opportunities for trained EU seafarers. Social dumping should
not be accepted. This may best be achieved by not only making
adjustments on the employment costs of EU seafarers, but also

In the revised State Aid Guidelines from 1997 the
3.14.
Commission stated (Chapter 1.4.)
‘the objectives of
promoting a safe and competitive Community fleet with the
employment of the highest possible number of Community
seafarers’ remained valid. In particular (Chapter 2.2.), these
measures should:

that

— safeguard EC employment, (both on board and on shore);

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— preserve maritime know-how in the Community and

develop maritime skills; and

an example, the obligation for projects to have a trans-national
nature is seen as an unnecessary obstacle, as it is much easier
to define a training project according to the actual needs and
the situation you are familiar with.

— improve safety.

3.15.
In some Member States the use of measures within
the EU State Aid Guidelines has helped to improve the
competitiveness of EU ships. However there are sectors where
the measures within the State Aid Guidelines arguably act
against the interests of the employment of EU seafarers, such
as in Lifeline Ferry Services (1), the acceptance of non-EU
nationals on EU registered ships as European Seafarers, and
the lack of recognition of onboard training of seafarers. The
Committee therefore believes that as a consequence the EU
State Aid Guidelines need to be reviewed. Such a review should
include the full involvement of the social partners.

3.19.
The Commission also proposes that efforts should be
made to promote the employment of women. This is con-
sidered to be a positive proposal, particularly when taken
together with suggestions that attention should be paid to
making a seagoing career more family friendly. It is essential
that the EU social partners address this issue and that of equal
opportunities issues in general. Special note needs to be made
of recent Community legislation in respect of gender equality
and proposed action on sexual harassment in the workplace (2).

There is concern that

3.16.
international conventions
covering social and employment matters are not being fully
applied in Member States and the Commission should verify
the situation. Some EU Member States have ratified all of the
ILO Maritime Conventions and some have not, and some EU
Member States pick and choose aspects of ILO obligations to
adhere to. It is considered important that a uniform approach
to the implementation of ILO maritime instruments should be
required.

The Communication makes some worthwhile pro-
3.17.
posals to tackle the problem of abandoned ships, proposals
which merit further consideration specifically in the light of
the work undertaken by the Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert
Working Group on Liability and Compensation regarding
Claims for Death, Personal
Injury and Abandonment of
Seafarers. It is interesting though that in this context the
Commission wishes to ensure that ‘seafarers on Community
ships enjoy at least the same protection as other Community
workers’; yet seafarers are often excluded by Member States
from employment protection measures provided for other
workers e.g. the posted workers directive, the transfer of
undertakings’ directive and the directive dealing with collective
redundancies legislation.

3.18.
The Commission recommendations that Member
States make better use of European Social and Structural Funds
in the areas of maritime training is welcomed. The Social
Partners should explore the possibilities of taking advantage of
the Equal, Socrates and Leonardo programmes but concern
exists that the complicated process of establishing projects and
their restricted scope has been a limiting factor in the past. As

3.20.
The Commission has identified several key players,
namely the social partners and in particular EU shipowners,
the public authorities and maritime academics. Jointly these
players must in the Commission’s view find a rapid solution
to the shortage of EU seafarers.

3.21.
For shipowners the Commission believes the key is
training of EU seafarers and contributing to a re-launch of the
image of shipping. For academics their role is maintaining the
highest possible standards of training and contributing to the
re-launch of the image of shipping and in this regard the
Committee proposes that academic institutions consider estab-
lishing networks to foster best practice initiatives. And for the
Member States’ public authorities it is providing all possible
support to shipowners by reducing cost disadvantages linked
to the employment of EU seafarers.

3.22.
The Commission has correctly identified that these
various interests must work together to find a solution and in
emphasising the proposal for the so-called Manning Direc-
tive (3) the Commission has identified the fundamental prob-
lem of competition from non-EU vessels employing cheaper
non-EU seafarers. The proposed directive seeks to establish the
principle that social and working conditions on intra-European

(1) Domestic ferry services essential for the economic well being of

outlying communities.

(2) COM(2000) 334 final.
(3) Proposal for a Council Directive on manning conditions for
regular passenger and ferry services operating between Member
States COM(98) 251 final — SYN 98/0159 (OJ C 213, 9.7.1998,
p. 17) — ESC Opinion: OJ C 40, 15.2.1999, p. 3.

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passenger and ferry services should be linked to those prevail-
ing in the countries between which the vessels trade. The
Commission believes this would establish a level playing field
and prevent social dumping. In doing so this would protect
one of the last remaining sectors where EU seafarers retain a
strong foothold. They also maintain that this would encourage
increased training. The Committee notes that the Maritime
Unions have indicated support for the directive and a willing-
ness to take-up the proposal of
the Commission to an
agreement on the fundamental issues involved. ECSA maintain
complete opposition to the proposed directive as they have
done since its inception because it might undermine the right
of the flag state to be responsible for labour conditions on
ships under its register and would, they argue, result in similar
protective measures by third countries with possible adverse
consequences for EU seafarers employed on the international
market. ECOSOC has previously offered an opinion on the
proposed Manning Directive and the Committee notes that
this is still relevant today (1).

3.23.
In that Opinion, the Committee stated that it ‘agrees
with the Commission’s objectives in submitting this draft
directive and feels that any such Community provision should
take account of and respond to the concerns expressed above
regarding employment and labour; the economic aspects; and
the legal compatibility of
the proposal with other legal
instruments and its repercussions upon the international
context in which the Community shipping industry operates.’

3.24.
The Committee notes that the proposed directive
has been the subject of close scrutiny and confirmed by
Commission services as being in compliance with all existing
European and international legislation etc. and in dealing with
intra-European trades, is an internal market measure removing
it from concerns over external open market-based reactions.

3.25.
The Commission states that it intends continuing
discussions on the Manning Directive at the level of the
Transport Council and the European Parliament but proposes
that the social partners work in parallel and seek an agreement
on this fundamental question. The Committee urges the social
partners to take up this challenge.

The Committee believes that a wider framework of
3.26.
social protection is required for EU shipping that seeks to

(1) ESC Opinion: OJ C 40, 15.2.1999.

ensure that competition is on the basis of highest possible
standards in safety, environment AND social standards, thereby
ensuring a level playing field for all those wishing to participate
in carrying goods by sea between EU ports.

3.27.
The Committee also believes that there should be a
tightening of Port State Control within the Paris Memorandum
countries to include punitive fines for violations and defi-
ciencies, thereby reducing the inherent incentive for some who
operate substandard vessels (the OECD studies) and PSC
inspectors to include inspection of social and employment
conditions. The Commission should propose the minimum
social conditions acceptable within the EU.

4. Conclusions and recommendations

4.1.
The Committee believes that it is important that all
those to whom the Commission Communication on the
training and recruitment of seafarers is addressed should
take careful note of its recommendations. In particular the
Committee believes that:

— The Member States should fully apply the EU Com-

mission’s guidelines on State aid to maritime transport.

— The Member States must bring about improvements in
onboard living and working conditions by ratifying and
enforcing relevant international standards such as those
adopted by the ILO. Observance of such standards should
be ensured via Port State Control utilising punitive fines
to punish those who refuse to abide by the international
agreed standards.

— The Member States and the social partners should work
together in examining how better use can be made of the
existing EU aid measures such as the European Social
Fund, Socrates, Leonardo and Equal to promote basic and
further training. The Commission should however be
prepared to consider making adjustments to the funding
requirements to ensure that they are fully utilised and
that no unnecessary requirements are being imposed.

— The social partners (ECSA and ETF) should seek a
to the concepts
voluntary agreement
embodied in the Proposed Directive on the Manning of
Scheduled Passenger and Ferry Services in the EU.

to give effect

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— Member States and social partners should organise and
coordinate national and EU level awareness campaigns to
re-launch the image of the shipping industry with a
view to highlighting the attractiveness of careers in the
maritime industry, reducing trainee drop-out rates and
promoting and facilitating the employment of women.

— The social partners should take appropriate action to
boost the social prestige and job satisfaction of the
seafaring professions (i.e. improvements to officers’ wages
and more convenient rotation times for seafarers).

— All

those involved in the maritime industry should
work together to ensure that Members States’ maritime
education and training systems continue to meet all the
requirements of the regulatory framework, of modern
technology and the global shipping industry.

— Member States and the social partners should implement
urgent measures to ensure sufficient numbers of study
places are available for training cadets, provide EU
seafarers with continuous updating and/or upgrading
courses and increase the mobility of EU seafarers.

— Member States and social partners should explore the
possibility of maximising the use of Community instru-
ments to provide financial support for maritime training;
and

Brussels, 16 January 2002.

— the social partners should take advantage of the Sixth
Framework Programme and bring forward areas of useful
research into the present shortfall of EU seafarers.

4.2.
It is significant that the Commission does not believe
there is a need for further legislative initiatives on employment
issues but rather that the answer lies in utilising correctly the
relevant Community instruments to reverse the decline in
employment of EU seafarers.

4.3.
This is arguably a clear signal to Member States that
unless the social partners can reach unanimity on the question
of the proposed manning directive there will be no further
support for the industry beyond what is already in place. The
Social Partners must heed this warning.

The key question to be addressed by the Member States
4.4.
therefore is whether there is a genuine commitment on the
part of EU shipowners — the key player so far as the
Commission is concerned — to train and employ EU seafarers.

4.5.
The Social Partners (ECSA and ETF) should lose no
time adopting those measures in respect of which consensus
has been reached for example by working together to promote
careers at sea. However, if such work is not to be completely
meaningless then action by the social partners is also needed
on issues where consensus to date has been evaded i.e.
measures to underpin the employment of EU seafarers.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS