Verbesserte Beschäftigungsbedingungen für Seeleute. Richtlinienvorschlag der Kommission zur Änderung des Seearbeitsrechtes

Abstract

SummaryDue to competition and international expansion, the level of protection for seafarers decreased continually, mostly in virtue of flagging out. On this account, the requirements for seafarer’s labour law need to be revised. In this context, the European Commission plans to extend social standards concerning the employment of seafarers on a European level by adopting a directive on the rights of seafarers. According to the scopes of existing directives, it is presently possible to exclude seafarers from certain rights to involvement. Thus, the Commission aims to widen the scopes of five directives primarily concerning the right to information, hearing and consultation finding that there was no reason for the exclusion. By increasing the rights of employed seafarers, more European people shall be encouraged to take a job in the maritime sector. Although the initiative is considered a good contribution on that way, there might be other factors that keep young Europeans from taking the job of a seafarer, such as spending months on sea or being exposed to dangers on the high seas. Moreover, the initiative allows excluding seafarers from substantive claims. It needs to be examined whether the characteristics of seafaring require such regulation. Yet, the proposed measures do state, together with the EU Blue Book, the challenges for competitive and future-compliant seafaring and set a starting point for their realization.