Even before its approval, the European Directive on Access to Port Services has received a terrible shot below the waterline. If the complaints of workers regarding the lack of protection of their rights had already dented the text, it is now the European Parliament itself, through two of its working committees, that has criticised the Directive.
Firstly, the Committee for Consumer Protection and the Internal Market has rejected the proposed text for the Directive by 22 votes to 3, stating that it is not clear how it would guarantee increased free competition “in and between ports”. Obviously, this committee means competition on terms of equal conditions for all port service providers, something which, as the unions have also pointed out, is far from assured. Indeed, the possibility of opening ports to “self-assistance” (replacing professional dock workers with poorly paid and trained personnel) would open the door to social dumping and a race to reduce costs through the systematic violation of workers’ protection.
And if the Committee for Consumer Protection has voiced a strong opinion, the Committee for Employment and Social Affairs has been equally damning, rejecting the text of the Directive by 24 votes to 11. According to this Committee, which has taken on board the workers’ arguments, the Directive not only fails to guarantee free competition, it has also ignored the positions of all other groups in the sector and, furthermore, the Commission has completely ignored the rejection of the previous proposal by the European Parliament in November 2003.
The International Dockworkers’ Council (IDC), with delegates in ten European countries, has expressed its satisfaction at the opinion of both committees. Indeed, the IDC has proposed that a Port Forum for Meeting and Discussion be set up to correct the numerous errors created by this European Directive, in particular concerning dialogue with union organisations.
