10 Labour standards in the fishing sector
| (29724) 10176/08 COM(08) 320
| Draft Council Decision authorising Member States to ratify, in the interests of the European Community, the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007, of the International Labour Organisation (Convention 188)
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| Legal base | Article 42 EC; consultation; unanimity
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| Department | Transport |
| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 16 November 2009
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| Previous Committee Reports | HC 16-xxvii (2007-08), chapter 6 (16 July 2008) and HC 19-xix (2008-09), chapter 5 (10 June 2009)
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| To be discussed in Council | 30 November 2009
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| Committee's assessment | Legally and politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
10.1 In June 2007 a new convention on labour standards for the
fishing sector was adopted at the International Labour Organisation
(ILO). The new convention, the Working in Fishing Convention,
revises and updates four existing fishing sector conventions.
Its adoption follows on from the consolidated Maritime Labour
Convention of 2006,[28]
which excludes the fishing sector from its scope of application.
10.2 The Working in Fishing Convention applies to
all fishers and all fishing vessels engaged in commercial fishing
operations (with some scope for exemptions and exception). It
updates and consolidates the existing conventions on hours of
work, minimum age, medical examinations, work agreements and crew
accommodation into a single document, and adds new issues such
as health and safety, food and potable water, manning, repatriation,
recruitment and placement and social security, as well as making
provisions for compliance and enforcement.
10.3 This draft Council Decision would authorise
Member States to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention, for those
parts falling under Community competence, preferably before 31
December 2012. The Commission has actively supported the development
of the new convention, although it had only observer status at
the ILO negotiations.
10.4 When we considered the document, in July 2008,
we said that clearly the convention was important for the UK fishing
industry. But we noted the Government's commendably careful approach
to the ratification of such conventions. Given that, and the timetable
pressure implied in the draft Decision, we were not clear whether
the Government intended to support that Commission proposal, as
opposed to the convention itself, in the form it was drafted.
And we asked for clarification of this point. We asked also whether
it was the Government's intention to challenge what seems to us
as the inappropriate citation of "the first sentence of the
first subparagraph of Article 300(2) and the first subparagraph
of Article 300 (3)" of the EC Treaty in the draft Decision.
10.5 When we considered the document again, in June
2009, we heard that:
- the Government fully supported
the aim of the convention and was committed to ratification, including
any consequential changes to UK law and practice necessary in
order to achieve this;
- more work was needed to identify exactly what
those changes should be, but it was estimated that approximately
19 sets of existing merchant shipping regulations would need to
be amended;
- the timetable for ratification could only be
established after the work on identification of these changes
was complete;
- the Commission's position was that it would "enable
and encourage Member States to take all the steps necessary for
ratification without further delay";
- the Government interpreted this as exhorting
Member States to ratify before 31 December 2012, as indicated
in the draft Decision, but not an explicit requirement to do so;
- on this basis the Government felt that it could
accept the proposal, as it did not consider it to be in conflict
with the aims of the convention;
- the Government agreed with our view that the
reference to the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article
300(2) in the draft Decision was incorrect;
- in its view, the correct reference should be
enlarged to "the first subparagraph of Article 300(2)";
- this was in preference, for the avoidance of
doubt, to our suggestion of "a simple reference to Article
300 or a reference to the second sentence of the first sub-paragraph
of Article 300(2)";
- the Government had sought clarification from
the Commission on this point in the first substantive Council
working group discussion of the proposal, on 11 March 2009, and
the Commission had undertaken to consider the matter further before
the next meeting;
- the Government was reasonably confident that
its view on the citation would prevail;
- at the same working group meeting another Member
State questioned the assertion that there are aspects of the convention
within the exclusive competence of the Community and this was
still to be discussed; and
- there had been indications that the Czech Presidency
would like to move the draft Decision forward for adoption at
a Council meeting June 2009.
We said that we understood there was not sufficient
progress on the matter to encourage the Presidency to take the
draft Decision at a Council meeting in June 2009 as planned and
that we wished to hear in due course about further developments,
in particular in relation to the Article 300 EC citation and to
the question raised about exclusive Community competence. Meanwhile
the document remained under scrutiny.[29]
The Minister's letter
10.6 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department for Transport (Paul Clark), writes to tell us that
the working group convened on 24 September 2009 and at that meeting:
- the Commission confirmed the
opinion held by some Member States (including the UK) that ratification
of the Convention need not be obligatory and that, pertaining
to those parts of the Convention falling outside the exclusive
competence of the Community, Member States that intend to ratify
should not be obliged to do so by the target date of 31 December
2012;
- discussions confirmed the assertion that there
are aspects of the Convention within the exclusive competence
of the Community and, as a result, Article 1 of the proposed text
was revised to put the matter beyond doubt; and
- on the issue of the Treaty base the Commission
and Member States agreed to replace the citation of the first
sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300(2) by the second
sentence thereof — the current working text of the proposal
reflects this change.
The Minister comments that, on this basis, the Government
expects that Member States will be able to lift their remaining
reserves on the draft decision, paving the way for agreement at
the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council
on 30 November 2009.
10.7 The Minister also says that:
- the Government fully supports
the aim of the new Convention, is in principle committed to working
towards ratification and accepts that UK law and practice should
be changed in order to achieve this;
- the complexities it expects to encounter in implementing
the Convention, however, mean that the Government could not support
the inclusion of an obligatory timescale for ratification; and
- while the Government is giving priority to implementation
of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, which Member States were
authorised to ratify in June 2007 and which it intends to be ready
to ratify by the end of 2010, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency
has begun to consider with fishing industry representatives whether
elements of the Work in Fishing Convention, which require similar
legislative changes for the protection of fishers as are required
for seafarers under the Maritime Labour Convention, can be taken
forward at the same time.
Conclusion
10.8 We are grateful to the Minister for his account
of where matters stand on this draft Decision. We have no further
questions to raise and clear the document.
28 (27630) 10901/06 (27623) 10900/06: see HC 34-xxxvi
(2005-06), chapter 10 (19 July 2006) and HC 41-iii (2006-07),
chapter 16 (6 December 2006). Back
29
See headnote. Back
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