| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2016) 82 final (18.2.16) |
| Publication Date | 18/02/2016 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
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The objective of the initiative is to facilitate labour mobility in the inland waterway transport sector by ensuring that skilled workers’ qualifications are recognised throughout the Union. The initiative builds upon over 19 years of experience with implementation of Directives 96/50/EC and 91/672/EEC which are however limited to the mutual recognition of boatmasters operating on EU inland waterways other than the Rhine river. Inland waterway transport (IWT) is a cost-saving and energy-efficient transport mode that could be used more efficiently to support the European Union’s energy efficiency, growth and industrial development goals. However, its contribution is hampered by difficulties in terms of labour mobility, persistent vacancies and skills mismatches, which continue in spite of attempts by the sector to tackle the problems at bilateral and multilateral level. Varying minimum requirements for professional qualifications across the Member States do not provide sufficient assurance for individual countries as regards the recognition of professional qualifications of crew from other Member States, in particular as this also affects the safety of navigation. This initiative therefore proposes to extend the scope of recognition of professional qualifications beyond the level of boatmasters to all crew involved in the operation of vessels, including on the Rhine river. To instil the necessary confidence which is a prerequisite for such recognition, this initiative proposes to base the recognition of the professional qualifications on the competences that are needed for the operation of vessels and to balance the recognition of qualifications with safeguards introducing standards as regards assessment of competence, approval of training programmes and monitoring and evaluation of certification and training. The initiative responds to long-standing calls from the sector and Member States to revise the existing outdated legal framework and replace it with a modern, competence-based framework in line with the approach towards recognition of qualifications for other modes of transport. |
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| Source Link | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2016:082:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Mobility and Transport |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
