Mr President, first of all our group did not sign this resolution for a number of very important reasons. We find it very one-sided and a blatant demand for Morocco to give in to European demands regardless of what it wants. We believe it is up to Morocco to decide how best to benefit from its resources in its own waters. One of the most deplorable aspects of this resolution is the failure to address the issue of the Western Sahara. Last night a representative of the Saharoui people spoke to the . He told us of EU-flag vessels fishing off the coast of Western Sahara. The border of the Western Sahara is established at 27° 4’. North of that is Morocco and south of that is the Western Sahara. We all know that the Saharoui people are supposed to vote in a referendum very soon on self-determination but of course many serious problems have been posed by the Moroccans. There is no EU country that has recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara, but according to the Saharoui people, at the same time the EU pays EUR 500 million to Morocco. EU vessels fish hake and other species in waters off Morocco, and Morocco has no legal jurisdiction in these waters. Many people believe this constitutes illegal fishing. Some might even go as far as to call it piracy. These are very serious allegations and I should also point out that similar allegations have been made as regards Somalia. I would ask the Commission what assurances it can give that this is not happening. Current agreements with Morocco have provisions for an experimental satellite system. Can the Commission reassure us, through the results, that EU vessels are not engaging in illegal fishing. I should add that the representative stressed that they had no problem whatsoever with EU/Morocco agreements. Their concern was that it be “legal”, that is, restricted to Moroccan waters only. Our problems with the resolution are not just on this point – although it is a very serious issue. The would like to stress first of all that we are not, as many people would have it, against fisheries agreements with third countries but we have very important conditions that we want attached to those agreements. We want them to be more equitable, less environmentally and socially damaging and consistent with other Community policies. There are specific criteria that we would like to follow. First of all with regard to all EU fisheries agreements, not just Moroccan agreements: they should follow the precautionary approach. Most people subscribe to this in theory but not in practice. Simply put, in the case of agreements there must be clear scientific proof that added fishing pressure from proposed EU activities will not compromise sustainability of fish stocks. If we cannot be sure that fish are available these particular species should not be put in the agreement. The second criteria is that the regional approach should be followed. All countries involved in fishing the relevant stocks, be they coastal states or distant water states, should be involved in assessments of stocks and negotiations over how much fishing is done and who has the right to do it. This approach is followed very successfully in the South Pacific on tuna and there is no reason whatsoever that it should not apply here. There is a consistent EU approach of negotiating with one state at a time. This is not acceptable. Control is also a very big problem in most of these agreements. The third countries simply do not have the resources to ensure that the vessels from the EU and other distant water fleets respect the rules. We know the problems that the Member States have in their own waters, so it must be very difficult indeed for these other countries to be able to tackle these problems. Satellite systems are a very small but positive step, but a lot more needs to be done. In 1997 the Council requested an in-depth analysis of the EU third country agreements. The summary report is now available. It was discussed on Tuesday at the Council meeting. We welcome this study very much and hope that the Council will now conduct a wide-ranging debate, both within the Council itself and with other sectors of society, about these EU fisheries agreements. Some of the conclusions of the report are questionable but at least it provides some hard information and figures on the agreements. This is something that was sorely needed and has been called for for a long time. Another point I want to make, as previous speakers have and, I suspect, most of the following speakers will, concerns the importance of this and other fisheries agreements to certain regions of the Community which are heavily dependent upon fishing. The sympathise with their plight and trust that appropriate compensation will be made available for those fishery workers who are put out of work in the eventuality of a halt in fishing activities. But the current EU policy is doing them a disservice by continually holding out hopes that there are fish available for them somewhere. It is fanning false hopes. It is clear that there are limits to how much fish is available. For many years the FAO has been warning of the problems, yet we keep looking for fish somewhere else until there is nowhere else. If one looks at Community statistics on employment in the sector, it is clear that this is on the decline. Much of this is due to the continued industrialisation of the sector, developing even larger vessels which require fewer people. While this serves to make fishermen’s lives easier and safer, it does come with certain social costs in terms of employment. The aspect of employment in all sectors of the fishing industry needs to be reviewed. It is affected by many factors including structural policy which does not take employment into account in issues of vessel size. Finally, to come back again to the point of Morocco’s right to make its own decisions. On behalf of the Green Group, I went with the Committee on Fisheries last year to Morocco and the Moroccans were very clear: they did not want to sign the last agreement. They did so only under extreme pressure from the European Union including a letter from Jacques Santer pleading and begging with the Moroccans to agree this last time; this would be the last agreement; the EU needed time to find another solution. But nothing has been done to find other solutions and this has to be done. We cannot force our wishes on other countries. We must respect their rights. We must have equitable agreements with other countries.

Political group: Verts-ALE