The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and Europêche, the recognised European social partners for the sea fisheries sector, have strongly criticised the European Commission’s decision to exclude maritime and fisheries worker representation from the newly established European Ocean Board. In a joint letter sent today to the Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, the two organisations describe the current composition of the Ocean Board as entirely unacceptable.
The high-level advisory body, created to guide the implementation of the European Ocean Pact, currently includes no representation of workers from the fisheries, maritime, and port sectors. While environmental organisations and various industry groups have been granted seats, the recognised voice of Europe’s maritime workforce has effectively been left outside the room.
“An advisory body tasked with shaping the future of our blue economy sectors cannot achieve its goals by treating the social dimension as an afterthought,” said Livia Spera, ETF General Secretary. “It is impossible to have a serious, fair, and democratically grounded discussion about the blue economy while ignoring the men and women who make it possible. A credible implementation of the European Ocean Pact will not be possible if the workers who keep Europe’s maritime sectors running are excluded from the discussion.”
The ETF emphasises that the Commission’s suggestion to consult trade unions only as “additional experts” on an ad-hoc basis means risks reducing the social dimension to an afterthought rather than treating it as an integral component of ocean governance. . The joint front with employers’ organisation Europêche underlines that this exclusion is a highly negative signal for the entire maritime sector. It is particularly striking given the European Commission’s repeated commitment to strengthening the social dimension of maritime policy and the blue economy, including through recent initiatives such as the European Maritime Industrial Strategy and the European Ports Strategy.
Environmental sustainability and socio-economic viability must go hand in hand. The ETF, alongside its social partners, insists that a balanced strategy requires the structured, permanent presence of both employers and worker representatives within any consultative body.
The ETF and Europêche jointly urge Commissioner Kadis and the European Commission to immediately reconsider this decision and formally include the ETF as a full member of the European Ocean Board.
You can download the joint letter here.
For more information, please contact Andrea Albertazzi, ETF Senior Policy Officer for Fisheries, at a.albertazzi@etf-europe.org