London ports safe as MEPs reject 'port services directive'

12.00.00am GMT Wed 18th Jan 2006

MEPs have today (Wednesday) overwhelmingly rejected a controversial new EU law that could have proved damaging to the port of London and docks across the UK.

The proposed Directive, aimed at opening up port services to competition by in order to drive prices down across Europe, was voted down by 532 to 120 votes. Members of the ALDE Liberal and Democrats group voted with the majority. The measure would have required operators to bid against each other for the right to provide services at ports, and ship owners would have be allowed to bring in their own staff to replace dockworkers in loading and unloading vessels.

London's Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford said:

"Today's result shows that the European Parliament is not a toothless tiger and MEPs are not afraid to reject inappropriate legislation. That is more than can be said for many MPs at Westminster."

"There are existing EU rules to curb monopolies and the rejection of this Directive was fully justified, as it would have been extremely damaging to the UK port industry. Small firms could have been crushed under the weight of increased bureaucracy, and dock workers may well have seen their wages lowered and their job security under threat."

She added: "I do however deplore the violence of some of the dockers who protested outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, who threw stones at the building and injured two police officers. The violence was in any case completely misplaced because MEPs shared the dockers' concerns."