CELEX: 51993PC0581
Language: en
Date: 1993-11-26
Title: RE-EXAMINED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE CONCERNING THE MINIMUM SAFETY AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS FOR WORK ON BOARD FISHING VESSELS - 13th individual Directive within the meaning of Directive 89/391/EEC

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                                                        C0M(93) 581 final - SYN 369
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                                          RE-EXAMINED PROPOSAL FOR
                                                 A COUNCIL D I R E C T I V E
                                      CONCERNING THE MINIMUM SAFETY
                                            AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS
                                                             FOR WORK
                                            ON BOARD F I S H I N G V E S S E L S
                                                         13th i n d i v i d u a l D i r e c t i v e
                                               within t h e meaning of D i r e c t i v e 89/391/EEC
                                        (presented by :he Commission pursuant to Article 189C, paragraph d
                                                                  of the EC Treaty).
SES?'-. "
I
 ---pagebreak---  The initial proposal for this Directive was forwarded to the Council by
 the Commission en 3 December 1991*.
 The proposal, which is based on Article 118a of the Treaty, aims to
 ensure better working and living conditions for fishermen by laying down
 minimum health and safety requirements for work on board fishing
 vessels, which were excluded from the scope of Council Directive
 89/654/EEC because of their particular characteristics as workplaces.
 The European Parliament (first reading) and the Economic and Social
 Committee gave their opinions on 8 July 1992 and 29 April 1992.
The Commission forwarded an amended proposal to the Council on 12
October 1992 2 .
On 30 June 1993, the Council adopted a common position which the
European Parliament examined (second reading) on 25 October 1993 and
adopted on 27 October 1993, subject to eight amendments.
The Commission agreed to incorporate four of these amendments, Nos. 2,
6, 7 and 8, Into its re-examined proposal.
The Commission has the following comments on these four amendments:
Amendment No 2
Subject;    Requires the activities of self-employed workers not covered
            by this Directive to be dealt with in a separate directive.
Comment :   The same amendment with a similar formula has been accepted
            for other directives (e.g. means of transport).
Amendment No 6
Subject;    Reduces to four years the frequency with which the Member
            States must report to the Commission on implementation.
Comment ;   Reinstates the Commission's amended proposal. The same period
            has been accepted by the Council for several individual
            Directives.
Amendments Nos 7 and 8
Subject:    Require the main electricity switchboard and the emergency
            switchboard on both new and existing vessels to be installed
            in such a way that they are not simultaneously exposed to
            fire or flooding.
Comment ;   Reinstate the original Commission proposal, fully justified
            by several losses of vessels involving numerous fatalities.
The Commission rejected four amendments, Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5.
1     COM(91) 466 final - SYN 369
2     COM(92) 409 final - SYN 369
                                 i
 ---pagebreak---  The Commission has the following comments on these four amendments:
 Amendment No 1
 Subject:    Requires Member States to adopt appropriate measures for
             vessals of a smaller size.
Comment ;   The amendment cannot be accepted because it introduces a new
            recital which is not supported by the enacting terms of the
            Directive.
Amendment No 3
Subject:    Makes it compulsory for all vessels covered by the Directive
            to carry a ship's log.
Comment :   The an r-ndment does not add anything to the requirement that
            any occurrences at sea that affect or could affect the safety
            and health of workers be recorded and reported.
Amendment No 4
Subject:    Reduces from seven to five years the transitional period for
            existing vessels to comply with the provisions of Annex I I.
Comment :   The Commission considers that, despite its reservations about
            the common position, the Council's compromise nan to bo
            accepted as the only possible solution still ensuring
            adequate protection for fishermen. This amendment affects one
            of the key points of the compromise on which the common
            position was agreed and would have no practical effect in the
            final text adopted by the Council.
Amendment No 5
Subject:    Requires any person likely to command a vessel to have a
            sufficient knowledge of languages to be able to communicate
           with the crew.
Comment :  This amendment is too stringent and would make it compulsory
            for anyone likely to command a vessel to communicate not only
            in the nine official languages of the Community, but also in
           those of third countries, an unrealistic requirement. Article
           8(2) of the common position already takes account of the main
           thrust of this amendment.
                                  %
 ---pagebreak---              COMMON POSITION                        RE-EXAMINED PROPOSAL
                                                (Unless otherwise indicated,
                                                   the common position is
                                                          unchanged
                                         New fourth recital:
                                         Whereas the activities of self-employed
                                         workers who are not covered by this
                                         directive must be dealt with in another
                                         directive relating to, in general terms,
                                         the health and safety of self-employed
                                         workers in all sectors of activities.;
Article 13                               Article 13
3. The Member States shall report to     3. The Member States shall report to the
the Commission every five years on the   Commission every four years on the
practical implementation of the          practical implementation of the
provisions of this directive, indicating provisions of this directive, indicating
the points of view of employers and      the points of view of employers and
workers.                                 workers.
                                         Annex I, new last paragraph of 2.2
                                         The main electricity switchboard and the
                                         emergency switchboard must be installed
                                         in such a way as to ensure that they are
                                         not both exposed to water or fire at the
                                         same time.
                                         Annex II, new last paragrapn of 2.2
                                         The main electricity switchboard and the
                                         emergency switchboard must be installed
                                         in such a way as to ensure that they
                                         are not both exposed to water or fire at
                                         the same time.
                                           h
 ---pagebreak---                                                                      ISSN 0254-1475
                                                              COM (93) 581 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                          07 04
                                 Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-617-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-77-61539-7
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