WRITTEN QUESTION E-1713/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Total depletion of a natural mussel bed in the Wadden Sea protected by the Netherlands by fishermen operating with a German licence

1. Can the Commission confirm that there is no agreement between Germany and the Netherlands as to the demarcation of the border in the wide mouth of the river Ems between the towns of Emden (D) and Delfzij (NL) and the islands Rottummeroog (NL) and Borkum (D), so that according to the Netherlands the border runs midway across the body of water while Germany considers the border to run along the Dutch shore?

2. Is the Commission aware of the fact that the body of water referred to in paragraph 1, which is sub-divided into the Dollard, Bocht van Watum and Oostfriesche Gaatje zones, forms part of the protected Wadden Sea with regard to which agreements exist between the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark intended to maintain the ecological equilibrium, that the Netherlands and Germany concluded the Eems-Dollard Agreement in 1960 and an environmental protocol thereto in 1996, and that Netherlands policy aims to protect the natural mussel beds as a food source for sea birds, partly owing to previous experience showing that even 10 years after total depletion such mussel beds have failed to recover?

3. Can the Commission confirm that the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries of the German State of Lower Saxony recently issued a licence for the natural mussel bed extending over 10 hectares of the Hond sandbank just off the village of Bierum on the Netherlands coast to be totally depleted through fishing and that German fishermen did so on 16 May 2001 achieving a profit of some 500 000?

4. Is the Lower Saxony Minister right in saying that he does not have the authority to refuse a licence for the complete depletion of stocks in what is deemed to be their territory, even if Germany and the Netherlands have previously agreed to leave the disputed region untouched?

5. What can the Commission do to prevent an area of the sea protected by a Member State which voluntarily foregoes commercial exploitation from being devastated as a result of a licence issued by another Member State?

6. How can the Commission help prevent the potential destruction of mussel beds in two other sandbanks in the same disputed border region?

Source: Netwerk current affairs programme broadcast on 20 May 2001 on Nederland 1 (TV channel.)

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

It is not within the powers of the Commission to take a position in the discussion between Germany and the Netherlands on the demarcation of the border in the wide mouth of the river Ems between the towns of Emden (Germany) and Delfzijl (the Netherlands) and the islands of Borkum (Germany) and Rottumeroog (the Netherlands). This is not a question of the interpretation and application of Community-law. Therefore, the Commission is not able to reply to the first and the fifth questions.

As to the other questions, since the German authorities have issued to German fishermen a licence for the fishing of the natural mussel bed of the Hond sandbank, the Commission has already launched an investigation in order to further assess the matter with a view to ensuring that applicable Community environmental law is respected in this case.