Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on "2002: The Common Fisheries Policy and the fisheries situation in the European Union"

(2000/C 268/10)

On 21 October 1999 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 23(3) of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an own-initiative opinion on 2002: The Common Fisheries Policy and the fisheries situation in the European Union.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 21 June 2000. The rapporteur was Mr Chagas.

At its 374th plenary session (meeting of 12 July 2000), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 34 votes to three, with nine abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. Despite all the efforts made, the fisheries sector is clearly still in difficulty. Year by year, jobs are lost, the workforce becomes progressively older, and the problems facing many fisheries-dependent regions worsen. Overall economic indicators must be kept up to date, facilitating studies on the socio-economic situation of fisheries-dependent regions in the various Member States.

1.2. Since 1973 the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has gradually tried to adopt a more comprehensive and consistent approach. Unfortunately, it has not always succeeded. Lack of political commitment has meant that - quite apart from the number of failures there have been - a number of shortcomings have also persisted for many years.

1.3. The start of the new millennium provides a good opportunity to review the whole structure of the CFP. The aim should be to ensure sustainable activity, guaranteed supply, continuing employment and the survival of fisheries-dependent communities, which is after all one of the objectives of the CFP. The objectives enshrined in the Treaty - namely, improvement of incomes and upward harmonisation of social conditions - must also be borne in mind.

1.4. The Committee will conduct its analysis not only with a view to the main decisions to be taken in 2002, under Articles 6 and 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92; it will also consider the EU fisheries situation, the future of the CFP, the adjustments to be made to its various strands and to the approach to be used to tackle the problems facing the sector, and how the requisite changes can be brought about.

2. General comments

2.1. Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92(1) stipulates that the Commission is to submit a report on the EU fisheries sector to the European Parliament and the Council by 31 December 2001. The regulation also states that, by 31 December 2002, the Council must decide on the main adjustments to be made regarding the access of fishing vessels from other Member States to the 6-12 mile coastal band, access to the protected "Shetland Box", and the access of countries which have joined the EU since 1985 to the North Sea fishing grounds.

2.2. Under the terms of Article 6 of the regulation, if the Council does not adopt a decision by 31 December 2002, the 6-12 mile limit will cease to apply.

2.3. If no decision is taken regarding access to the Shetland Box and access to the North Sea fishing grounds for the new Member States, access to these areas will remain unchanged.

3. Access to fishing grounds and resources

3.1. The 12-mile band

3.1.1. In accordance with the rights and obligations enshrined in the Treaties establishing the European Community, equal access to fishery resources in the waters coming under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Member States is a basic principle of the CFP.

3.1.2. The Community provisions limiting such access are an exception to the principle of equal access to resources, which derives from the general principle of equal treatment or non-discrimination. These provisions are justified by the depletion of stocks and the need to promote their replenishment, or at least to prevent them disappearing entirely.

3.1.3. CFP legislation is the fruit of successive EU enlargements and has involved tough and protracted diplomatic negotiations. Changes to this legislation have been imposed by economic and political developments and by alterations to the international sea-fisheries regime.

3.1.4. The initial idea that the 12-mile coastal bands should be reserved, by way of derogation, for local and inshore fishing was finally accommodated in the conservation and management policy established per Community regulation(2), which considered the matter an absolute priority.

3.1.5. The derogation from free access to the coastal band was introduced in 1972(3) and has since been extended. It has been widely supported both by the Member States and by the sector itself.

3.1.6. In the current situation, the possibility of allowing access to waters within the 12-mile band raises huge legal problems and is a highly sensitive matter, with extremely serious economic implications for many regions.

3.1.7. Access has hitherto been restricted because of the need to protect traditional fishing activity by coastal communities, thereby also recognising their rights and duties with regard to the resources in their area. As long ago as 1964(4), international law recognised the legitimacy of reserving coastal bands for local communities.

3.1.8. Application of the principle of equal access from 2002 would be highly disruptive, and would have unforeseeable consequences not only politically, but also from an economic and social standpoint.

3.1.9. The adoption of such a measure would seriously upset the economic and social fabric of certain communities in the most fisheries-dependent regions. It would have grave consequences for the state of resources which are already depleted, as some Member States' fleets would inevitably switch their fishing effort drastically to certain more productive fishing grounds.

3.1.10. It is fully agreed that the way to meet the CFP's objectives is to maintain resources by securing a balance between these resources and the means used to catch them.

3.1.11. In future the CFP must take even greater account of the special nature of fishery activity, its social structure and its special relationship both with the region in which it takes place and with that region's economic fabric. Fishery regions and their social partners should be more closely involved in the Community decisions which affect them.

3.1.12. Potential investors and the sector as a whole need advance notice of the legal framework and the criteria governing the sector's development. The CFP must focus on long-term development strategies and a more comprehensive and holistic approach, in order to guarantee the sector's socio-economic stability.

3.1.13. Hitherto, measures restricting access to coastal areas and their resources, whether for political reasons or for the sake of conservation, have in effect formed a temporary derogation from the principle of equal access. Some way of finding a global solution to these problems must be found.

3.1.14. Given the current situation of the Community fisheries sector, and the risks which the sector would face if the 12-mile derogation were ended, the derogation should become permanent.

3.1.15. The outermost island regions already suffer serious problems as a result of their geographic location. In order to safeguard the traditional activity of local fishing communities in these regions, and in view of the fact that in some cases the bulk of resources are found outside the 12-mile band, thought should be given to the possibility of extending the reserved zone (or taking other measures to achieve the same end), so that these communities can exercise their activity in full as otherwise the aim of benefiting the local population will not be achieved.

3.2. Relative stability

3.2.1. The principle of stability is enshrined in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 170/83. Its purpose is to ensure the balanced exploitation of marine resources while helping to safeguard the stability of fishing activities, particularly in regions where local populations are especially dependent on fisheries and related industries.

3.2.2. With a view to ensuring relative stability for the fishing activities in each Member State, it was found necessary to introduce a system of total allowable catches (TAC) which are distributed on a quota basis between Member States.

3.2.3. The indirect limitation of fishing effort by means of TACs and quotas depends very much on the degree to which the system is respected. Compliance can only be ensured by effective monitoring, and at present this is far from being the case.

3.2.4. This principle is well respected because it is closely bound up with the balanced management of fishery resources and the stability of fishing activities, and with the particular needs of regions whose population is especially dependent on fisheries.

3.2.5. There is also general acceptance of the principle of relative stability, which assigns a fixed percentage of catches to each Member State, subject to the biological situation of stocks.

3.2.6. Whilst not calling this principle into question, the method used for applying it should be reviewed jointly with the sector. The breakdown of quotas between Member States has remained unchanged for a number of years, and some quotas are not being used. The system should be revised to reflect this changed situation in order to make it fairer and more in keeping with its purpose.

3.3. Shetland Box

3.3.1. The institutionalisation of technical management measures to protect resources, by creating closed areas (boxes), closed seasons or similar measures, is right and proper. Experience has shown that such measures play an important role in preventing over-fishing and depletion of stocks.

3.3.2. However, for such measures to be credible, they must be backed by scientific opinions demonstrating that they are biologically necessary.

3.3.3. In these circumstances it is important that they be of limited duration, i.e. that they only apply for a specified period.

3.3.4. In the case of the Shetland Box, the restrictions are controversial because the evidence in support of the claim that the restrictions are necessary on biological grounds is not entirely clear.

3.3.5. The decision on whether to retain or scrap the Shetland Box provides a good opportunity for a scientific assessment of the results which this measure has achieved, and of its biological value for the future.

3.4. Access to North Sea fishing grounds

3.4.1. Under the accession agreements, vessels from Finland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden are excluded from North Sea fishing grounds until 31 December 2002.

3.4.2. In the wake of these accession agreements, the position of each of these Member States is somewhat different, as are the interests which will be at stake after 2002.

3.4.3. Given that access to most North Sea resources is already clearly regulated, there seems little point in continuing this denial of access, provided that its impact on resources is checked.

4. Final comments

4.1. The need to draw up a report on the EU fisheries situation appears to have prompted the Commission to consider more issues than it is due to consider under Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92.

4.2. This is to be welcomed, as it betokens a political will to get to the bottom of these issues, by considering the outlook and presenting appropriate measures for establishing the foundations for a forward-looking CFP.

4.3. The Committee hopes that this will indeed prove the case. The Committee would like to contribute to the debate on the future of the CFP and the framework for a new CFP in the new millennium.

4.4. The issues raised in the present opinion are closely interlinked, and they all prompt further questions and ideas and suggest possible new approaches. Further discussion of them is vital, but unfortunately they cannot be fully addressed in the present opinion.

4.5. Many important strands of the CFP are closely bound up with the issues raised in the present opinion, and are of great topical interest. They span resource conservation and management, research policy, TACs and quotas, structural policy, multiannual guidance programmes, monitoring and controls, social policy, the common market organisation, product safety, and so on. However, discussion of them will have to wait until a better opportunity presents itself.

4.6. The need for a more effective CFP, and the future development of the sector within an ever growing market, presuppose a change in strategy. This will mean reconsidering the role of the sector's various operators, sharing responsibilities between all the relevant players, simplifying legislation and making it more transparent, and rigorously upholding the measures proposed.

Brussels, 12 July 2000.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice Rangoni Machiavelli

(1) Articles 6 and 7 - OJ L 389, 21.12.1992.

(2) Regulation (EEC) No 170/83 - OJ L 24, 27.1.1983.

(3) Extended to 12 miles by Regulation (EEC) No 170/83 (OJ L 24, 27.1.1983).

(4) London Convention.