Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-13-Speech-2-322"
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"en.20070313.24.2-322"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the International Labour Organisation has adopted the ambitious Maritime Labour Convention, which lays down minimum standards for working conditions on board: employment conditions, accommodation conditions, social security protection and welfare, not forgetting provisions for implementation.
The added value of this Convention, a real beginning for a code for international maritime labour, lies in that it makes the existing standards more effective, that it adapts them to globalisation, and above all that it makes it possible to increase the number of ratifications by States. The Commission, like the ILO (International Labour Organisation), considers that the goal of a level playing field is fundamental. We are convinced that the Maritime Labour Convention will contribute to that, eliminate shipping that does not respect minimum standards and make careers at sea more attractive.
The Convention must, however, be ratified speedily in order to produce these positive effects. A decision authorising Member States to ratify the Convention is legally required given that the ILO’s current rules do not allow the Community as such to ratify the text, even if it includes provisions that fall within the competence of the Community.
In order to avoid delaying the ratification procedures, the Commission has endeavoured to present its proposal for a decision hard on the heels of the adoption of the Convention.
In its proposal, the Commission anticipates the principle of authorisation to ratify and suggests 31 December 2008 as the target date for depositing the instruments of ratification. Consequently, the Commission wishes to retain a strong wording on the commitment to ratify the Convention and rejects any editing that could weaken this principle.
Mrs McDonald, I should like to thank you and to give you my full support for your report, which upholds the target date of 2008. Taking into account the level of European standards, one may think that third countries will be much more affected by the Convention coming into force than the Member States, who already apply more exacting standards. When the Convention comes into force it will reduce the disparities between the standards of most of the third countries and those of the Community, which should encourage fairer conditions for competition.
Whole sections of the Convention are already covered by equivalent provisions in Community law. Member States, therefore, will not have to review their legislation entirely and will be able to accelerate ratification.
The Commission can understand the internal constraints of Member States and, in this context, can be more flexible about the time limit, but on the principle of a definite time limit without conditions attached. It would be very sad to lose the momentum we had during the negotiations in Geneva by weakening the principle of depositing the instruments of ratification.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention and once again I give my thanks to Mrs McDonald."@en1
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