CELEX: 51984PC0340
Language: en
Date: 1984-06-22
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE TORREMOLINOS INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SAFETY OF FISHING VESSELS AND THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS THEREOF BY THE MEMBER STATES PENDING THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE CONVENTION AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

10.7.84                             Official Journal of the European Communities                           N o C 183/17
              Proposal for a Council Decision on the ratification of the Torremolinos International
              Convention for the safety of fishing vessels and the application of the provisions thereof
              by the Member States pending the entry into force of the Convention at international
                                                          level
                                                  COM(84) 340 final
                            (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 25 June 1984)
                                                    (84/C 183/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     governing the construction and fitting-out of fishing
COMMUNITIES                                                     vessels, and checks carried out in Community ports
                                                                according to a uniform procedure to ensure that these
                                                                rules are applied;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community, and in particular
Article 43 thereof,                                             Whereas Community action in this field must be
                                                                integrated with initiatives already taken by specialist
                                                                international organizations;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                Whereas the resolution adopted by the European
Having regard to the opinion of the            European         Parliament on 29 March 1984 on the shipbuilding
Parliament,                                                     industry in the Community (3) calls for Community
                                                                interests to be protected more effectively by ensuring
                                                                general compliance with the rules of fair competition
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                regarding compliance with the safety standards pres-
Social Committee,                                               cribed by international agreements;
Whereas the rational development of the common                  Whereas the Torremolinos Convention on the safety
fisheries policy must help to improve the standard of           of fishing vessels of a length of 24 metres or more,
living and living conditions of the population whose            drawn up under the aegis of the International
livelihood depends on fishing; whereas to this end              Maritime Organization (IMO) and still awaiting
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2908/83 of 4 October                entry into force, is capable of making a substantial
1983 on a common measure for restructuring,                     contribution to improving the standards of construc-
modernizing and developing the fishing industry and             tion and fitting-out of vessels and to the protection of
for developing aquaculture (') underlined the need to           the crew; whereas the Convention incorporates
enhance the safety of the crews of fishing vessels;             monitoring procedures to ensure that the provisions
                                                                of the Convention are applied;
Whereas, moreover, under Article 117 of the Treaty,
the Member States agreed upon the need to promote               Whereas ratification of, or accession to, the
improved working conditions and an improved                     Torremolinos Convention by all the Member States
standard of living for workers, so as to make possible          my speed up entry into force of the Convention, and
their harmonization while the improvement was being             will constitute a first stage towards attaining the
maintained;                                                     Community's global of improving the safety of the
                                                                crews of fishing vessels;
Whereas the Council resolution of 27 February 1984
                                                                Whereas several Member States have already ratified
on a second programme of action of the European
                                                                the Torremolinos Convention and have adopted the
Communities on safety and health at work (2)
                                                                 national measures needed to apply the provisions
provides for the establishment of specific measures to
                                                                 thereof; whereas uncoordinated application of the
prevent accidents in certain high-risk activities and of
                                                                 Convention is liable to affect the competition
equipment design principles; whereas sea-fishing is,
                                                                 conditions within the Community and render the
by virtue of the particularly high number of accidents
                                                                 safety measures taken by some Member States
involving fishermen, a high-risk activity;                       ineffective; whereas it is therefore important to
                                                                 provide for the advance application of the provisions
Whereas the aim of improving crew safety can be                  of the Torremolinos Convention by all the Member
 achieved only if common rules are drawn up                      States pending entry into force of the Convention at
                                                                 international level,
 O OJ No L 290, 22. 10. 1983, p. 1.
 O OJ No C 67, 8. 3. 1984, p. 2.                                 (5) OJ No C 117, 30. 4. 1984, p. 88.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 183/18                        Official Journal of the European Communities                            10.7.84
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:                                                           Article 2
                                                              The Member States shall take the necessary measures
                        Article 1                             to ensure that the provisions of the Convention and
1.    Those Member States which have not yet done             the Annexes thereto come into force by 1 January
so shall ratify or accede to the Torremolinos Inter-          1987 at the latest.
national Convention for the safety of fishing vessels                                Article 3
(1977) as soon as possible, but by 30 June 1986 at the
latest.                                                       The Member States shall inform the Commission of
                                                              the arrangements made with regard to Articles 1
2.     The Member States shall inform the Secretariat-        and 2.
General of the International Maritime Organization                                   Article 4
that they have ratified or acceded to the Convention
in consideration of this Decision.                            This Decision is addressed to the Member States.