Mr President, this communication from the Commission deals with a key issue for the developing countries: how can the fisheries policy conducted by these countries help reduce poverty? I will now present the resolution adopted by the Committee on Development and Cooperation under a special procedure – the Hughes procedure – which means the Committee on Fisheries was closely involved in drawing up the report. Let me also point out that the resolution fully endorses the opinion delivered by the Committee on Fisheries. In the report and the resolution, we start from two key premises. Firstly, in the developing countries, the respective contribution of the coastal communities to food security and employment make this sector a major factor of sustainable development and poverty reduction in these regions. Secondly, and unfortunately on a less positive note, we find a constant depletion of fish resources in these developing countries' fishing zones. In the context of fisheries relations between the European Union and the developing countries, the Committee on Development believes that we need to encourage observance of the principles of the FAO's Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing. Let me remind you of the main points of this code: application of the precautionary principle in resource management, giving priority to the needs of coastal communities in the developing countries and, in particular, those engaged in small-scale fishing, active participation by those directly concerned, namely the local communities, and, finally, cooperation at sub-regional, regional and global level in promoting the conservation and management of resources. To that end, the Committee on Development proposes a range of strategic measures focused on the need to ensure coherence between the European Union's sectoral policies and its development policy. I am thinking, of course, mainly of fisheries policy but also of regional policy. The first proposal set out in the resolution is that EU development policy must pay greater attention to the developing countries' fishing industry by drawing up country-specific cooperation strategy documents resulting from the political dialogue between the European Union and the country concerned. The second is that account must be taken of the need to improve the living conditions of coastal communities in the context of the various priority intervention areas defined within this cooperation strategy. Thirdly, we must apply specific mechanisms to reinforce the organisations representing the small-scale fishing industry, and in particular in the area of processing fisheries products. I am thinking here of women's organisations, which are extremely important in the developing countries and have relatively few operating resources. Fourthly, in the context of the fisheries agreements, abiding by the precautionary principle means carrying out prior scientific assessments of available resources; if there are any doubts, this precautionary principle must indeed be applied, meaning we must take the lowest hypothesis as the basis. Fifthly, it is important for the European Union to support surveillance and monitoring programmes in the developing countries' exclusive economic zones. We are all aware that some of these countries do not have the necessary technical means to do so. That is why it is important for the European Union to make its contribution, so as to avoid over-fishing and the poaching activities of certain vessels. In that spirit we must also help these countries combat flags of convenience and other vessels which fish illegally in their exclusive economic zones. Finally, our resolution calls on the Council to amend FIFG, so as to put a stop to grants of subsidies to Community ship-owners for transfers to flags of convenience. I have not gone into every aspect, but I am sure my colleague, Mr Varela, in the Committee on Fisheries, will be happy to present the particular points his committee has proposed.

Political group: Verts-ALE