Considerations on COM(1998)662-4 - Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers concluded by the EC Shipowners' Association (ECSA) and the Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the EU (FST)

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dossier COM(1998)662-4 - Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers concluded by the EC Shipowners' Association (ECSA) and the ...
document COM(1998)662 EN
date June 21, 1999
 
(1) following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the provisions of the Agreement on social policy annexed to the Protocol 14 on social policy, annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community, as amended by the Treaty of Maastricht, have been incorporated into Articles 136 to 139 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

(2) management and labour ("the social partners"), may in accordance with Article 139(2) of the Treaty, request jointly that agreements at Community level be implemented by a Council decision on a proposal from the Commission;

(3) the Council adopted Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time(1); whereas sea transport was one of the sectors of activity excluded from the scope of that Directive;

(4) account should be taken of the relevant Conventions of the International Labour Organisation with regard to the organisation of working time, including in particular those relating to the hours of work of seafarers;

(5) the Commission, in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Agreement on social policy, has consulted management and labour on the possible direction of Community action with regard to the sectors and activities excluded from Directive 93/104/EC;

(6) after that consultation the Commission considered that Community action was desirable in that area, and once again consulted management and labour at Community level on the substance of the envisaged proposal in accordance with Article 3(3) of the said Agreement;

(7) the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) and the Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the European Union (FST) informed the Commission of their desire to enter into negotiations in accordance with Article 4 of the Agreement on social policy;

(8) the said organisations concluded, on 30 September 1998, an Agreement on the working time of seafarers; this Agreement contains a joint request to the Commission to implement the Agreement by a Council decision on a proposal from the Commission, in accordance with Article 4(2) of the Agreement on social policy;

(9) the Council, in its resolution of 6 December 1994 on certain aspects for a European Union social policy: a contribution to economic and social convergence in the Union(2) asked management and labour to make use of the opportunities for concluding agreements, since they are close to social reality and to social problems;

(10) the Agreement applies to seafarers on board every seagoing ship, whether publicly or privately owned, which is registered in the territory of any Member State and is ordinarily engaged in commercial maritime operations;

(11) the proper instrument for implementing the Agreement is a Directive within the meaning of Article 249 of the Treaty; it therefore binds the Member States as to the result to be achieved, whilst leaving national authorities the choice of form and methods;

(12) in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the objectives of this Directive cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved by the Community; this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary for the attainment of those objectives;

(13) with regard to terms used in the Agreement which are not specifically defined therein, this Directive leaves Member States free to define those terms in accordance with national law and practice, as is the case for other social policy Directives using similar terms, providing that those definitions respect the content of the Agreement;

(14) the Commission has drafted its proposal for a Directive, in accordance with its communication of 20 May 1998 on adapting and promoting the social dialogue at Community level, taking into account the representative status of the signatory parties and the legality of each clause of the Agreement;

(15) the Commission informed the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee, in accordance with its communication of 14 December 1993 concerning the application of the Agreement on social policy, by sending them the text of its proposal for a Directive containing the Agreement;

(16) the implementation of the Agreement contributes to achieving the objectives under Article 136 of the Treaty.