(2004/C 70 E/062)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1717/03

by Freddy Blak (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 May 2003)

Subject:   Stowaways

It is estimated that at any given time there are approximately 6 000 stowaways on board ships world wide. Typically, stowaways are people from poor countries fleeing starvation, poverty, political persecution or unemployment in the hope of a better existence. The journey as a stowaway often ends in tragedy as a result of the duration of the voyage in unaccustomed surroundings and uncertainty, possibly with death as the outcome through gas from the cargo or being enclosed in spaces which are not designed for transporting people.

Apart from the obviously tragic human consequences, stowaways entail considerable additional expenditure each year for the shipping industry — money which could be better spent.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has issued resolution No A.871(2) laying down certain guidelines for the treatment of stowaways. The IMO has also adopted further rules concerning stowaways in IMO resolution No FAL. 7(29) supplementing the above.

However, since these are only guidelines, far from all countries comply. Will the Commission therefore play a more active role in this area in the IMO and endeavour to persuade other countries to comply with these rules?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(25 July 2003)

As the Honourable Member points out, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued numerous documents on the situation of stowaways, as well as that of persons in distress at sea.

It has come up against two barriers in this connection: first, the fact that the IMO documents are rarely binding, and second, the fact that issues following on from the situation stowaways and persons of distress at sea are matters for the sovereign decisions of national governments.

The Commission would point out that the Community is not a member of the IMO and that the Commission has only observer status there, while the Member States are full members.

Nevertheless, under Article 5(1) of Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 2099/2002 of the European of 5 November 2002 establishing a Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (COSS) and amending the Regulations on maritime safety and the prevention of pollution from ships (1), ‘ … with a view to reducing the risks of conflict between the Community maritime legislation and international instruments, Member States and the Commission shall cooperate, through coordination meetings and/or any other appropriate means, in order to define, as appropriate, a common position or approach in the competent international fora’. However, this cooperation reaches its limits, in relation to the question raised by the Honourable Member, as soon as issues of justice and home affairs are involved.

In the context of the control of external borders, immigration and asylum policy, the issue of stowaways is a subject of importance owing to its humanitarian and economic consequences as described by the Honourable Member. It should be noted, however, that in quantitative terms illegal immigration by sea takes place in most cases with chartered boats organised by criminal networks, as the recent landings in Italy also indicate.

Nevertheless, regardless of the method of transport, illegal immigration by sea gets serious and continuous attention within the Commission, as already emphasised in the Commission's reply to written questions E-3112/02 by Mr Tannock (2) and P-0291/03 by Mr Pisicchio (3).

(1)  OJ L 324, 29.11.2002.

(2)  OJ C 155 E, 3.7.2003, p. 92.

(3)  OJ C 280 E, 21.11.2003, p. 46.