European Commission praises port reform agreement

The European Commission has commented favourably on the recent
agreements concluded between the stakeholders in the ports of Valletta
and Dunkirk in France, Malta Dockers’ Union legal advisor George Abela
said this morning.

Speaking during a seminar organised in Malta by the International
Dockers’ Council, Dr Abela announced that the commission has welcomed
all the initiatives aimed at promoting a dialogue between stakeholders
at different levels.

He said the commission concluded that the agreements reached by the two
ports on port reform provided models for “best practices”, and argued
that this structured social dialogue would be followed at European level.

This morning’s seminar was described as “historic” by Malta Dockers’
Union president Joe Saliba, who added that the seminar of this European
Zone Conference was the first of its sort to be held in Malta.

Today’s seminar was also addressed by Competitiveness and Communications
Minister Censu Galea and Labour ports spokesman Joe Mizzi.