Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we received with great interest the Commission communication on a Community Action Plan for fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea. This communication responds to a frequently expressed demand which is wholly legitimate, given both the importance of the Mediterranean fishing economy for the European Union and the specific nature of fisheries in the Mediterranean region. The current regulation on fisheries in the Mediterranean – Regulation 1626/94 – has thus far survived only thanks to derogations which, although, on the one hand, have made it possible to save the unsaveable, as in the case of special fisheries, have, on the other, served first and foremost to highlight the inadequacy of the Union’s approach to the Mediterranean question. Indeed, we all know that applying the principles of the common fisheries policy exactly as it stands is counterproductive to the Mediterranean and can even, at times, be harmful if we consider the socio-economic consequences. That is why I welcome with particular satisfaction the Commission’s endeavour, this endeavour to establish the specific nature of the Mediterranean and the sustainability of fisheries resources as new criteria in the future action plan. There are many positive aspects of the communication, such as, for example, the delegation to the Member States of responsibility for managing coastal fishing, the involvement of fishermen’s associations, dialogue with third countries and the consideration given for the first time to leisure fishing. Nevertheless, following a proper analysis of the sector and its specific characteristics carried out by the Commission with regard to the solutions, the rapporteur and our Parliamentary committee feel that not enough effort has been made to find imaginative solutions and avoid recourse to conventional CFP – common policy – instruments, whereas, for the Mediterranean we need an innovative, coherent, step-by-step measure whose thrust can be altered whenever it is deemed necessary. I would now like to draw your attention briefly to a number of points contained in my report. Firstly, the Union’s systematic, multilateral approach must be a reality, not just wishful thinking. Involving fishermen’s associations must include promoting the experiments carried out at local level with a view to responsible management, experiments which demonstrate the effectiveness of the selective equipment used and the effectiveness of alternative ways of managing the fishing effort, such as, for example, temporary closures. Rigidly and systematically transposing CFP management mechanisms such as minimum sizes or TACs is liable to negate fishermen’s determined efforts and could prove to be counterproductive. Moreover, premature implementation of inadequate technical measures would be liable to render ineffective the multilateral dialogue which the Commission plans to hold with the third countries of the Mediterranean region with a view to the sustainable management of the Basin as a whole. What we want is for the negotiations with countries which, like us, fish the Mediterranean Sea to be undertaken as soon as possible, so that we can submit the results of these talks to the forthcoming Mediterranean Interministerial Conference on fisheries due to take place in Venice in November 2003. The second point is the emphasis placed on the fundamental role of research to support an effective fisheries policy. As we know, from this point of view, the specific characteristics of the Mediterranean have always represented a problem, but we must emphasise the need for scientific research to be relevant to the action plan. It is in this regard that we propose a Mediterranean research model based on local data-collection networks. Then there are the structural implications of the action plan, which we feel the Commission has underestimated somewhat. In particular, we consider the part dedicated to this point to be unsatisfactory. As a committee, we propose to evaluate, in cases such as this one, not least, innovative support measures, particularly the measure extending the de minimis rule to the fisheries sector. It must certainly not be forgotten that 80% of Mediterranean fishing is small-scale and tied closely to the areas concerned, whose socio-economic equilibrium verges, more often than not, on mere subsistence. Lastly, Mr President, there is the line taken by the Commission on the environment. It appears to us to be somewhat incomplete in that it does not acknowledge that fishermen are more often victims of, rather than responsible for, environmental damage. In a region where genuinely coastal fishing predominates, the key to sustainable coexistence remains, in any case, the integrated management of coastal areas, an aspect to which the Commission fails to give sufficient emphasis. Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I will end by thanking my colleagues from the Committee on Fisheries for their extremely helpful suggestions, which allowed us ultimately to achieve unanimous consensus on the report.

Political group: PPE-DE