Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-19-Speech-5-054"
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"en.19991119.4.5-054"2
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"Mr President, there has been a lot of criticism here this morning about the fact that contracts have been awarded to Korean companies and the damage that this has done to the European industries. However, as in many other areas, the reason that contracts have been awarded to countries like Korea is surely because of the conditions that apply: for example workers in such countries get very low wages, working conditions and safety measures are very poor and unsatisfactory, because the health and safety of workers is not a priority. Like in many industrial sectors, businesses are relocating to countries where they can exploit workers to their own advantage.
This is something that has to be addressed when we talk about, having a level playing field for the sector in Europe; in fact what we need is a level playing field internationally for workers. We have to protect workers' rights. We cannot exploit workers in some countries while protecting their rights in Europe. Someone mentioned the EU imposing stringent measures in this sector in Europe. But what should we do? Lift those stringent measures? They were applied for a reason. There were reasons for imposing such stringent measures in the first place.
When it comes to shipbuilding itself, I also think that we need to look at what kind of shipbuilding takes place. For example, as regards shipbuilding for the fishing sector, we have an over-capacity of fishing vessels within the European Union, so what kind of vessels should be built? I think that emphasis should be put on the building of coastguard or marine protection vessels to control and monitor the common fisheries policy. The vessels being built must support local industry and local coastal fishing. Safety must be given priority. When it comes to the building of vessels, we must ensure that the most advanced technology is used to ensure that they are as environmentally-friendly as possible.
A lot of vessels are used for transporting live animals. First of all, the export of live animals is unacceptable. In fact, it is completely wrong, especially when they are going to be slaughtered. The kind of conditions they have to endure in large vessels are not acceptable, so if new vessels are being built we should ensure that the best standards possible are complied with and that measures are taken to ensure that, where live animals must be transported by sea in large vessels, all measures are taken to optimise conditions for them.
Another issue that has to be looked at in the building of new vessels is the whole issue of waste and waste facilities – and not just the waste derived from the operating vessels but also the waste produced during the trip, because marine pollution is a very important issue and a lot of marine pollution is caused by ships.
To come back to the issue of dumping vessels discarded within the European Union on other countries, we have to be very careful that we are not dumping unsafe and ecologically unsound vessels on countries at cheap prices. This is unacceptable – it is just shifting our problem to other parts of the world, and the marine environment has no borders so anything that happens in one area eventually comes back to roost here. The whole issue of unfair competition which people are criticising is caused by the fact that the industry itself is exploiting workers in certain parts of the world. This has to stop."@en1
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