CGMV1ISSION OF THE EUROPEAN CCMVLUNITIES 
C0M(92) 316 f inal 
Brussels, 15 July 1992 
Communication from the Cammission 
to the Council concerning 
the conservation of whales within the 
framework of the International whaling Coamission 
I 
Explanatory Memorandum 
This proposal concerns the accession of the Community to the 
International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (International 
Whaling Commission IWC). 
Council Directive 92/43/CEE of 21 May 1992 concerning the conservation 
of natural habitats as well as of the wild fauna and flora, establishes 
a general protection system for certain species of fauna and of flora 
which applies, inter alia, to whales. As regards these species the 
Member States are to take the mesures necessary for establishing a 
strict protection scheme, in their natural distribution area, 
prohibiting, inter alia, each form of intentional catching or killing 
of animals of those species in nature. The Member States are to 
implement the conditions of this Directive with in a period of two 
years as from its notification. Those measures could be supplemented 
in the framework of the Coiranunity system for the conservation and 
management of fishery resources by applying it to marin mammals. 
As members of the IWC, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, the 
Netherlands and the United Kingdom are required to enforce whale 
conservation and management measures. 
In order to ensure the protection of the environment and safeguarding 
the integrity of the ecosystem of the seas and oceans in which 
Community fishermen carry out their activities, bringing marine mammals 
into the Community system for conservation and management of fish 
stocks will make it possible to establish a more consistent and more 
efficient system at Community level and better defend the interests of 
the Community at international level. 
The accession of the Community to this Convention must take place in 
accordance with the relevant Community rules and without prejudice to 
the Community's position with regard to the United Nations Convention 
on the Law of the Sea. 
It is therefore recommended to the Council to authorize the Commission 
to negotiate, on behalf of the Community and in conformity with the 
negotiating directives annexed to the attached decision, a Protocol 
amending the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling, 
Washington DC, USA, 2 December 1946, with a view to the accession of 
the European Economic Community thereto. 
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Whales and pandas symbolize the success of the action taken by large 
numbers of people in an attempt to combat environmental degradation. 
At present, thanks to the moratorium on commercial whaling, whale 
stocks are now slowly being reconstituted. However, with the exception 
of one species which has not been hunted to a great extent in the past, 
all stocks are far from being reconstituted. Whales are a fragile 
component in the biological equilibrium of marine fauna which is still 
threatened both by the uncontrolled resumption of whaling and by other 
human activities, e.g. by pollution. 
If it was simply a matter for the Community to decide, all commercial 
whaling would be abandoned once and for all. However, this objective 
must be pursued in accordance with the rules of international law and 
in compliance with the sovereignty of States. In this respect, no 
state can refuse to cooperate with other States in conserving species 
such as whales. The Community should therefore use all its influence 
to ensure that the action to save the whale continues. 
While certain countries are breaking ranks on a multilateral level, 
there can be no doubt that the International Whaling Commission is 
still the only competent organization where the conservation and 
management of whale stocks, including those of the North Atlantic are 
concerned. In this respect, it does not seem out of the question that 
the new international organization set up by Norway, Iceland, Greenland 
and the Faroe Islands under the NAMCO Agreement on Cooperation in 
Research Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals in the North 
Atlantic may be extended to cover whales. However, an extension of 
this kind would create two international organizations competent for 
the same stocks which is not considered desirable. 
The first initiatives in the field of international cooperation on the 
conservation and management of whale stocks date back to the 1930s, and 
the resulting structure was subsumed with the establishment of the 
International convention on the Regulation of Whaling, which was signed 
in 1946 and entered into force in 1948. While overhunting of certain 
species had already started at the end of the last century, the 
decimation of stocks has taken place mainly since the IWC was set up. 
International disputes, an unwillingness to carry out effective 
controls, hunting by "pirates" and the lack of means of enforcing the 
measures agreed within the IWC have prevented the conservation of whale 
stocks. 
Ten years after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment 
in Stockholm asked it to do so, the IWC finally succeeded in adopting a 
moratorium on commercial whaling in 19 82, providing for the phasing-out 
of whaling from 1986. Although the moratorium, which had strong 
international support, has reduced the numbers of whales caught, 
certain States have continued whaling, allegedly on scientific grounds. 
In fact, the scientific programmes in question are commercial or 
semi-commercial operations. Moreover, the eskimos of Greenland, the 
United States and the Russian Federation have been allowed to continue 
aboriginal whaling to cover their own requirements. 
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The moratorium was reviewed in 199 0 and since then it has been renewed 
by the iwc, on a provisional basis, pending the establishment of 
revised management arrangements. The Scientific committee given the 
task by the IWC of preparing the ground for these arrangements has made 
considerable progress with a detailed analysis of whale stocks and the 
establishment of a revised management system. This year the IWC 
succeeded in adopting the methodology whereby scientists can determine 
acceptable catches. The finalization of the text and the preparation 
of the other components of the management regime, to enable the 
resumption of commercial whaling, will follow. 
The United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development held 
in Rio de Janeiro in June confirmed the right to use marine resources 
subject to the obligation to conserve them, in accordance with the 
United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. However, this must 
take place in the context of international cooperation. The IWC's role 
in the context of this cooperation would be strengthened if all the 
States involved in the conservation of whales were members. However, 
conspicuously absent from the members of the IWC are a number of States 
in whose waters the conservation of whales ought to be ensured; in 
this respect, certain States which have left the IWC, such as Canada, 
should return. 
The international community, which had to be patient when the 
moratorium was being established and applied, should not now accept 
unilateral action motivated by the impatience of whalers. The fact 
that certain States have preserved their whaling potential throughout 
the period of the moratorium was their own choice. In this respect, it 
is hard to imagine, however, that all the other countries which have 
made efforts to reorganize their industries on a permanent basis would 
be prepared to reward such a policy. 
At this stage, the moratorium applied by the iwc is in conformity with 
the recommendations of its Scientific Committee and accordingly, there 
can be no question of a reopening of whaling on the basis of scientific 
advice. Only in the case where whaling for the lesser rorqual (minke) 
can be envisaged according to the methodology devised by the Scientific 
Committee, the IWC should consider a limited resumption of commercial 
whaling. However, going by the past history of the IWC, it is clear 
that it is hard to conceive of a resumption of commercial whaling 
without a guarantee that the measures agreed within the IWC will be 
enforced. In particular, it will not be easy to obtain such a 
guarantee beyond the limits of the Coastal States • fishing areas. 
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At Community level, it is important to formulate a clear policy in 
order to allay the concerns relating to the conservation of marine 
mammals. Such a policy must be based on conservation arrangements 
applying to Community waters and vessels registered in the Community 
operating beyond the limits of Community waters, while guaranteeing 
maximum protection for marine mammals. Lastly, in accordance with the 
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Community should 
do all within its power to persuade other states to follow its example 
and abandon commercial whaling. At all events, the IWC should not end 
the moratorium without obtaining an assurance of adequate guarantees 
regarding enforcement of the measures agreed within the IWC. The 
Community, using all its influence, should therefore fight within the 
IWC to achieve this objective. 
Council Directive 92/43/CEE of 21 May 1992 concerning the conservation 
of natural habitats as well as of the wild fauna and flora, establishes 
a general protection system for certain species of fauna and of flora 
which applies, inter alia, to whales. As regards these species the 
Member states are to take the mesures necessary for establishing a 
strict protection scheme, in their natural distribution area, 
prohibiting, inter alia, every form of intentional catching or killing 
of animals of those species in nature. The Member States are to 
implement the conditions of this Directive with a period of two years 
from its notification. Those measures could be supplemented in the 
framework of the Community system for the conservation and management 
of fishery resources by applying it to marin mammals. 
Furthermore, the conservation of cetaceans is not a matter exclusively 
for the IWC. Whales appear in the Appendices to the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora, the 
rules of which the Community has incorporated in Community law. 
Obviously, it will be necessary to avoid inconsistencies between the 
various legal instruments at international and Community level. It 
would seem to be highly inappropriate for certain States to allow 
certain species to be hunted while other States such as the Community 
apply commercial measures prohibiting the importation of products of 
such species. Consequently, it must be considered that the resumption 
of commercial whaling as announced by Norway may have major 
repercussions for international cooperation concerning the conservation 
of the species in question. 
As members of the IWC, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, the 
Netherlands and the United Kingdom have to enforce the measures for the 
conservation and management of whales agreed within the IWC. Against 
this background, the Community can better contribute to the 
conservation of whales at Community level and better defend its 
interests at international level, after the Community is acceded to the 
IWC. To this end, the Commission asks the Council to approve a draft 
Decision authorizing the Commission to negotiate the accession of the 
Community to the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling. 
(Draft) 
COUNCIL DECISION 
authorizing the Commission to negotiate, on behalf of the Community, a 
Protocol amending the International Convention on the Regulation of 
whaling, Washington, 2 December 1946 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic 
Community, 
Having regard to the Recommendation from the Commission, 
Whereas marine mammals are a fragile component in the biological 
equilibrium of marine fauna; whereas several such species appear in 
Appendices I and II to the Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the rules of which the 
European Economic Community is a contracting party as well as in 
Appendice IV of Council Directive 92/43/CEE of 21 May 1992 concerning 
the conservation of natural habitats as well as of the wild fauna and 
flora; 
Whereas the conservation and management of marine mammals calls for 
international cooperation; whereas, to this end, the International 
Convention on the Regulation of Whaling provides a useful framework for 
international rules and regulations concerning the conservation and 
management of cetaceans; 
whereas certain Member States are contracting Parties to that 
Convention in order to defend there their general and particular 
interests regarding the protection and conservation of whale resources 
and whereas, in order to contribute to the conservation and management 
of cetaceans, it is appropriate for the European Economic Community to 
accede to that Convention, as a Contracting Party, in order to defend 
there its policy based on the above Directive and the Community system 
for conservation and management of fish stock; 
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Whereas, to enable the European Economic Community to accede to that 
Convention under appropriate conditions, it is necessary to authorize 
the Commission to negotiate, on behalf of the Community, a Protocol 
amending that Convention in conformity with the negotiating directives 
annexed to the present decision; 
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 
Sole Article 
The Commission is hereby authorized to negotiate, on behalf of the 
Community and in accordance with the directives attached, a Protocol 
amending the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling, 
Washington, 2 December 1946, with a view to the accession of the 
Community to that Convention. 
The Commission shall conduct the negotiations assisted by 
representatives of the Member States. 
Done at Brussels, For the Council 
The President 
A N N E X 
Negotiating directives 
The Commission will ensure that the proposed Protocol amending the 
International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling contains the 
conditions allowing the European Economic Community to accede to that 
Convention as a contracting Party and to participate accordingly in its 
subsidiary bodies and does not prejudice its position with regard to 
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 
s 
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COM(92)316flnal 
DOCUMENTS 
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Catalogue number : CB-CO-92-360-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-46872-6 
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