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(2004/C 33 E/218)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2100/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(25 June 2003)

Subject:   Fishing in the EU's western waters

Recently (on 4 June) the European Parliament voted to ensure that Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93 (1) and (EC) No 685/95 (2) would remain in force for a 10-year period, and it did so in connection with its vote on its legislative resolution on a proposal for a Council regulation on the management of the fishing effort relating to certain Community fishing areas and resources and modifying Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

Parliament's position was supported by an overwhelming majority of 334 to 108, with 48 abstentions.

Notwithstanding the allocation of powers and responsibilities amongst the various EU institutions, such a clear and eloquent expression of a political view by those elected to represent the people of the various EU Member States (more than an absolute majority of Parliament's total membership and over two-thirds of the votes cast) cannot be ignored either by the Commission or by the Council.

However, it continues to be reported that new rules on access to the EU's western waters (in particular those along the Portuguese coast) are being drawn up in blatant contradiction to Parliament's vote. Furthermore, the new rules would allow access in certain cases within the 12-mile limit and, in others, within the 50-mile limit. This would jeopardise not only the conservation of valuable resources in those waters but also the social and economic balances which have been preserved by means of the CFP and the objectives thereof.

The Commission:

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(25 July 2003)

The Commission has taken note of the vote of the Parliament, that took place on 4 June 2003, on the Commission's proposal (3) for a Council Regulation on the management of the fishing effort relating to certain Community fishing areas and resources and modifying Regulation (EEC) 2847/93 (4), the so called Western waters Regulation.

As the Commission has made clear on various occasions since it tabled its proposal, there is a clear legal imperative to revise the effort limitation regime that was adopted in 1995, following the expiry of the transitional access arrangements in the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal from 1985. Indeed, after 2002 the 1995 regime is in contradiction with primary law. It is therefore not a viable option to let the 1995 Regulations remain in force for a further 10 year period but these have to be replaced.

However, taking account of the resolution adopted by the Parliament and having listened to the arguments put forward in this context, the Commission is now seeking to establish a biologically sensitive area within the scope of the Western waters Regulation. This area would be subject to specific measures which will take into account the views expressed by the Parliament.

As regards the Portuguese continental waters, it should be recalled that according to Article 17(1) of the framework Regulation for the Common Fisheries Policy (5), a fundamental principle of this policy is that Community fishing vessels have equal access to waters beyond 12 nautical miles off the baselines.

As a consequence of the 1985 Act of Accession for Spain and Portugal, ICES (6) area IXa was divided between these two Member States according to their national boundaries. This was however clearly a transitional arrangement, alongside other temporary arrangements for the integration of Portugal and Spain into the Community, which now must come to an end. The separation between Spanish and Portuguese waters beyond 12 nautical miles is clearly not in line with Article 17 (1) referred to earlier and it simply cannot be permanently upheld within the Community to exclude access to waters under one Member State's jurisdiction for other Member States, neither legally nor politically. This is valid for all Community waters, not only Portuguese waters. It should also be recalled that this approach has already been accepted in the TAC and Quota Regulation for 2003, adopted by the Council in December 2002, in which the corresponding separation of ICES area IXa was abolished.

If there are conservation problems appearing in the area in question, they should be regulated at Community level according to the ordinary procedures which are applied within the Common Fisheries Policy. The Commission is always prepared to examine such claims and to take the necessary action.

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(1)OJ L 261, 20.10.1993, p. 1.

(2)OJ L 71, 31.3.1995, p. 5.

(3)  COM(2002) 739 final.

(4)  Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy, OJ L 261, 20.10.1993.

(5)  Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy, OJ L 358, 31.12.2002.

(6)  ICES = International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

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