European Union Performance in the Maritime Labour Convention

Abstract

This chapter examines the performance of the European Union (EU) in the International Labour Organization during the six years negotiating the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (MLC). The existing literature on the case portrays the EU as an important participant in the process. By following the common methodology of identifying EU output, the outcome of its negotiating efforts and the impact on the final document, the chapter challenges this assessment of the EU. It argues that many of the EU’s goals were widely supported by all negotiators and demonstrating EU impact on the eventual outcome is hard. Through a detailed analysis of the records of proceeding of the seven preparatory conferences, it argues that of five important components of the MLC, in three the EU was not influential, in the fourth its influence is ambiguous and only in the fifth (social security provision) did it make an unequivocal impact. The primary reason is that during the early years of negotiations, the EU was not a relevant actor for its member states, which chose to participate directly in the process. During this time, many important issues were decided and the EU qua EU was present. Later, when it did promote common positions through the Presidency and Commission, the tripartite structure of negotiations, the norm of seeking consensus and the relative alignment of preferences among all actors lessened the ability of the EU to stand out as a key actor. In short, EU performance was low because it came to the table too late.