SECTORS AND ACTIVITIES EXCLUDED FROM THE
WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE
(a)
(20941)
—
(b)
(21120)
—
|
European Parliament amendments to the draft Directive amending
Directive 93/104/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of
working time to cover sectors and activities excluded from that
Directive.
Amended draft Directive amending Council Directive 93/104/EC
concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time to cover
sectors and activities excluded from that Directive.
|
| Legal base:
| Article 137 EC; co-decision; qualified majority voting
|
| |
| Department: |
Trade and Industry
|
| Basis of consideration:
| Minister's letter of 18 April 2000
|
| Previous Committee Report:
| HC 23-xv (1999-2000), paragraph 8 (19 April 2000)
|
| To be discussed in Council:
| Within eight weeks from 3 April 2000
|
| Committee's assessment:
| Politically important
|
| Committee's decision:
| (Both) Cleared (decision reported on 19 April)
|
Background
7.1 We cleared these documents at our last
meeting, but noted that we were still waiting a response to our
questions about the hours of sea fishermen. We have now received
a reply from the Minister for Competitiveness at the Department
of Trade and Industry (Mr Johnson).
The Minister's letter
7.2 In his letter — which just missed
our meeting — the Minister summarises the outcome of the
conciliation procedure (which he set out more fully in document
(b)), and addresses our outstanding concerns about sea-fishing.
7.3 He replies to our questions as follows:
"The Committee questioned
the effect of the EP amendment setting an annual limit of 2304
hours worked per year by sea fishermen. The Government estimates
that currently the bulk of the offshore fleet works in excess
of this figure. Such a limit, without possibility of exceptions
would involve fishermen returning to port with lower catches;
alternatively a vessel may need a larger crew, implying a smaller
income for each member, since income consists of a share of the
revenue from the sale of the catch.
"The Committee asked about the extent to which
weather and fishing quotas constrained fishing time. The number
of days a vessel cannot fish because of the weather will vary
depending on the sea area concerned, and also on the type of vessel.
However most categories of offshore vessels fish for 200-250 days
per year.
"The number of fishing days needed to catch
a vessel's quota will depend on the size of the quota available
for each individual vessel (by allocation by the Government, or
producer organisation or by purchase etc) as well as on the location
and abundance of the stocks over the period. However in 1999 the
UK fleet did not catch up to the limit of the available national
quota for most stocks and, overall, the quotas did not act as
an effective constraint on the number of days spent at sea in
practice.
"There are no data for the time spent fishing
exclusively for non-quota species, which will vary by type of
vessel, sea area and the priorities of the vessel. Fishermen will
often fish for quota and non-quota species on the same trip, and
continue to take non-quota species if quota species are not found,
or the quota has been exhausted."
Conclusion
7.4 We thank the Minister for his response.
The implication of his answer, as we understand it, is that neither
weather conditions nor quota measures impose significant constraints
on fishing effort. We are concerned to learn that the bulk
of the offshore fishing fleet is estimated to work in excess
of 2304 hours a year spread over no more than 200 to 250 days,
and we restate our request that the Government impress on both
sides of industry the importance of health and safety in this
dangerous work.
7.5 We had already cleared both documents.
| 
