Council seeks to attract more young people to maritime careers

Council seeks to attract more young people to maritime careers

The European Council has adopted a number of measures to promote maritime transport and to attract more young people to maritime careers.

The number of European Union seafarers employed on ships registered under EU flags has fallen by 40 per cent since 1985. To arrest the decline, or even reverse it, the European Council proposes to:

• review EU guidelines on state aid to the maritime sector, in order to "stimulate ongoing competitiveness and the promotion of know-how in European maritime transport and maritime training, as well as the employment of seafarers";

• promote the sector through campaigns that could include, for example, a European maritime day and a European maritime-image prize;

• ask the Commission to examine the possibility of setting up a quality-premium system to recognize operators who provide the best living and working conditions for seafarers; and

• encourage employers and trade unions to create working conditions and pay levels that reflect seafarers' training.