3 Training for seafarers
| (33147)
14256/11
COM(11) 555
| Draft Directive amending Directive 2008/106/EC on the minimum level of training for seafarers
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| Legal base | Article 100(2) TFEU; co-decision; QMV
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| Document originated | 14 September 2011
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| Deposited in Parliament | 20 September 2011
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| Department | Transport
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 13 October 2011
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | 12 December 2011
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information requested
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Background
3.1 The International Maritime Organisation's International Convention
on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers
(STCW Convention) is part of the international regulatory framework
for shipping. All Member States, including the UK, are parties
to the STCW Convention.
3.2 In 2010 changes to the STCW Convention were adopted
in Manila. They are known as the Manila Amendment. The main changes
are:
- strengthened provisions concerning
training and assessment, the issue of certificates of competency
and prevention of fraudulent practices;
- updated standards relating to medical fitness,
fitness for duty and alcohol abuse;
- new requirements concerning certification for
able seafarers and for electro-technical officers and security
related training for all seafarers;
- updated requirements for personnel on certain
types of ships; and
- clarification and simplification of the definition
of "certificate".
All Member States, including the UK, were involved
in the review of STCW Convention launched by the International
Maritime Organisation in 2007 and which culminated in the Manila
Amendment.
3.3 All previous amendments to the STCW Convention
have been transposed into EU law by means of Directives.
The document
3.4 The Commission presents this draft Directive
to incorporate the provisions of the Manila Amendment into EU
law, so avoiding conflict between EU obligations and the international
obligations of its Member States. However the draft Directive
includes two additional requirements which are not part of the
Manila Amendment:
- a change to the timeframe for
the Commission to recognise the training and certification of
seafarers from third countries for use on EU flagged ships from
three months to 18 months; and
- a requirement for Member States to submit the
details of individual seafarers with issued or endorsed certificates
to the Commission, through a database developed by the European
Maritime Safety Agency, in order to gather concise and up to date
information about the seafaring profession within the EU.
The Government's view
3.5 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department
for Transport (Mike Penning) says that:
- the Government was party to
the revisions to the STCW Convention and acknowledges that the
Manila Amendment is a positive step forward;
- it acknowledges that, since the existing STCW
Convention has been adopted into EU law, that legislation must
be updated to reflect the changes agreed at Manila; and
- making the proposed amendments to Directive 2008/106/EC,
to implement the Manila Amendment of the STCW Convention, to which
the UK is also a signatory in its own right, is important to enable
the British shipping industry to continue to operate in worldwide
trade.
3.6 Turning to the additional provisions in the draft
Directive the Minister says that:
- the Government recognises that
the proposal to extend the timeframe to recognise the training
and certification of seafarers from third countries is a sensible
approach and gives a realistic timeframe for an inspection and
audit to be carried out;
- the Government is concerned about the proposed
requirement to provide the Commission with details of individual
seafarer certification;
- the Commission argues that it wants this information
to enable it to build up a complete picture of the seafarer labour
employment situation in the EU;
- the Government is not convinced that the benefits
of an EU database of seafarer certification information to enable
the Commission to produce statistical reports on EU seafarer numbers
and training will justify the resources required;
- the Government keeps UK Seafarer Certification
records in line with the requirements of the STCW Convention and
can use them to produce statistical information as required;
- the proposed requirement would replicate the
Government's information in the Commission's EU database;
- the proposed requirement might engage the fundamental
right of protection of personal data if the required data is not
submitted in anonymised form;
- if the obligation to transfer data is to be included
in the adopted Directive, despite the Government's concerns about
the utility of the resulting database, it will seek to negotiate
an amendment to ensure that the availability of the anonymising
software is made a pre-condition of the obligation to transfer
data; and
- the Government will also seek to clarify who
is to bear the cost of developing, installing and maintaining
the software.
Conclusion
3.7 Whilst, like the Government, we have no difficulty
with the generality of the draft Directive, we share the concern
about the proposed requirement for submission to the Commission
of details of individual seafarer certification, both in relation
to the anonymising question and to the costs involved. So before
considering the matter further we should like to hear about progress
in disposing of this issue in discussion of the proposal. Meanwhile
the document remains under scrutiny.
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