The ETF has published its response to the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council ‘Establishing a framework on market access to port services and financial transparency of ports’ (COM[2013] 296 final) and the Communication from the Commission on Ports: an engine for growth (COM[2013] 295 final).
While supporting the Commission’s aim to contribute to the goal of a more efficient, interconnected and sustainable functioning of the TEN-T, the ETF asks for the directive to be rejected, as the measures it proposed will not contribute achieving the above-mentioned objectives.
After the defeat of Port Packages I and II, the Commission comes again with the idea of opening the market for technical-nautical services. The ETF keeps opposing this proposal as it did in the past, since it does not see the need for opening the market for these services, some of which are services of general economic interest whose provisions entail maritime safety and environmental protection considerations.
Amongst other criticisms that ETF expresses in its paper there are the fact that the Commission’s proposals contain attacks to the right to strike, to the autonomy of European social partners and do not put forward adequate protections for workers.
The paper is accompanied by a detailed review of the impact assessment prepared by the European Commission prior to the publication of its proposals.
