WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3295/97 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Measures in favour of radio operators
25. 5. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 158/81 women. Within the Community, these issues are covered by existing Community legislation. In third countries, the Commission would look to the International labour organisation (ILO) to help ensure such equality. The WTO ministerial in Singapore in December 1996 agreed that the ILO was the competent body to set and deal with internationally recognised core labour standards. WTO ministers affirmed their support for the ILOís work in promoting those standards. (98/C 158/104) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3295/97 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (20 October 1997) Subject: Measures in favour of radio operators The post of merchant navy radio operator is being definitively dropped as an integral part of the crew of merchant vessels in the Member States from 1 February 1999, owing to a switch in technology. This will cause huge employment problems for a whole category of workers, in particular unemployed elderly workers without any other professional skills who cannot be included in new training programmes on account of their age and health problems. Will the Commission say: 1. What social protection measures have been taken by the Member States in favour of radio operators? 2. What programmes are to be used to help radio operators overcome the serious problems facing them, and notably social exclusion? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (5 December 1997) Apart from measures aimed at achieving equal treatment for men and women in the field of social security and measures to protect persons moving within the Community, the Commissionís activities in the field of social protection are restricted to the promotion of cooperation between the Member States, the latter being responsible for all the actual decisions in respect of specific measures. In conjunction with the Community information system on social protection and the report on social protection in Europe, the Commission has developed databases on the Member Statesí social protection systems. These databases only contain information of a general nature. As far as specific occupational groups are concerned, such as radio operators, the Commission neither receives nor has at its disposal any information. No general Reply can be given to the question of whether aid measures could be incorporated into the Communityís regional and structural policy instruments. A case-by-case examination would be necessary in this connection. The Structural Fundsí Objective 4 is designed to facilitate the adaptation of workers to industrial change and to changes in production systems. Such changes may be linked to technological progress or to work organisation and production management. Objective 4 focuses primarily on workers who, owing to their age, their low level of education or their vocational background, are threatened with unemployment because they have difficulty in adjusting to the new requirements. The aim is to consolidate the employment of such workers, especially through the provision of advice and through training and retraining. The provision of guidance and advice is intended to define abilities (vocational and personal skills), and to determine the workersí motivation and capacity for work which they might be able to perform after undergoing training. Such training may cover not only the technical skills required for a specific job or task but also the acquisition of general knowledge