By Martin Banks - 6th July 2007
MEPs are this week expected to throw their weight behind ambitious proposals for an EU-wide maritime policy.
At its Strasbourg plenary, parliament will adopt its formal position on European commission plans for a cross-sectoral approach to maritime issues.
On Wednesday, deputies will vote on a report which will form the assembly's official response to a 12-month consultation period on the commission’s green paper on future maritime policy.
The report has been drafted by five parliamentary committees - transport, environment, industry, fisheries and regional.
Several amendments have been tabled but the report, by German Socialist MEP Willi Piecyk, is expected to be approved in plenary.
One of the amendments is from Italian ALDE member Luigi Cocilovo who stresses “that onshore and offshore wind power has a very substantial potential” for the development of peripheral and maritime regions.
Cocilov, a member of the transport and tourism committee, also considers that regions should be at the heart of any future maritime policy.
He said, “It should be mandatory to consult with, and involve, the regions when drafting programmes.”
Over 400 organisations and bodies have responded to the consultation process, which ended last week.
The commission, which is aiming for a more "holistic" approach to future sea-related issues, will digest all the contributions before drafting a maritime action plan for publication in mid-October.
Meanwhile, seafarers’ unions throughout Europe are urging MEPs to adopt measures to prevent “cut-throat” competition with poorly-paid foreign crews and safeguard EU maritime skills.
In a campaign paper being sent to all MEPs, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) warns that the number of non-EU/EEA seafarers working on EU ferry services has soared by 19 per cent in the past 20 years at a time when employment for EU seamen has suffered a sharp decline.
“The failure to regulate terms and conditions on intra-European ferry services makes the need for some form of control more urgent than ever,” said ETF general secretary Eduardo Chagas.
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