Ports directive withdrawn

The European Commission yesterday decided to officially withdraw its controversial proposed directive on market access to port services.

The move came following the second rejection of the directive by the European Parliament last January.

The directive's aim was to liberalise lucrative monopolies in European seaports such as cargo handling. Some provisions of the proposed directive were harshly criticised by some member states and trade unions across Europe.

Following its weekly college meeting, the European Commission said it intends to return to the matter in its mid-term review of the White Paper on Transport Policy at the end of April when Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot will launch a wide debate with stakeholders, Parliament and member states on the strategic orientations in this area.

During the vote in the European Parliament in January both Nationalist and Labour Maltese MEPs voted against the directive.

The main sticking point of the proposal was related to the liberalisation of handling services which would have allowed ships entering different EU ports to use their own manpower rather than local labour. Known as "self-handling", the Commission was proposing that ship owners would be able to use their own crew to unload merchandise and shift it from one side to the other of the port. This led to huge demonstrations by port workers all over Europe culminating in violent protests outside the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on the day of the vote.

The Commission's decision to withdraw the proposal was yesterday welcomed by Labour MEP Joseph Muscat who said that common sense has prevailed.

"Had a proper consultation taken place in the first instance, we would have avoided many problems for workers. We will be vigilant to make sure that the upcoming White Paper is not simply an excuse for the Commission to reintroduce ideas that were unequivocally rejected twice in a row. In that case, the European Socialists will again be there to defend workers' interests," Mr Muscat said.