EU rules Spanish stevedoring practices ilegal
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- Category: Puertos
- Published on Thursday, 25 December 2014 22:42
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18 Dec 2014
All change: is the sun setting on current Spanish stevedoring rules? Credit: Claudi Cervello Spain's National Ports Authority - Puertos del Estado – has been forced by the European Union's Court of Justice to change the way it provides stevedoring services in its domestic ports. The authority has announced it will now sit down with all concerned to work out a “consensual solution”.On December 11, the Court ruled that the existing model implies restrictions to the freedom to establish stevedoring companies and that this is “not justified”.Although no deadline for implementing changes was included in the ruling, Spain is thought to be required to immediately introduce changes.The main port union, Coordinadora, has rejected the judgement and has demanded that the Ministry of Economic Development make a direct legal challenge, claiming that the Court's analysis contains fundamental errors. It goes as far as to state that the judgment is "an unacceptable assault on the job security of Spanish dockers”, which it considers “unacceptable aggression”.According to the Luxembourg Court, the Spanish stevedoring system breaches existing legislation since it effectively places barriers to entry on companies based in other EU states. For them to be able to provide such services in Spanish ports, they must first join existing stevedoring companies, including taking an equity stake, then using only workers employed by these organisations in the port. - See more at:
http://www.portstrategy.com/news101/world/europe/eu-rules-spanish-stevedoring-practices-illegal#sthash.6spy4x8N.dpuf