EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/616

(2004/C 84 E/0690)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0529/04

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(24 February 2004)

Subject: Access to the waters of the Azores autonomous region

There have been reports in the Portuguese press that the Spanish Government is issuing fishing licences to its vessels so that they can operate in the waters of the Azores, pre-empting fishery agreements and regulations.

There is no dispute about the fact that the waters of the Azores and their fishery resources are extremely sensitive, and essential to the local communities whose livelihoods depend on them, and that for this reason they need to be protected from over-fishing, whether by vessels from the Spanish fleet or from any other foreign fleet.

It is known that there are limits, adopted by the Council in October 2003, laying down minimum conditions, which do not include the possible issue of licences by the Spanish Government so that its vessels can operate in the waters of the Azores.

What action is the Commission going to take to defend the fishery resources and fishermen of the Azores?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2004)

The Commission is certainly aware of the facts raised by the Honourable Member, concerning the presence of Spanish fishing vessels in Azorean waters. There seems, however, to be a certain misunderstanding as regards the applicability of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1954/2003 (1). The conditions for fishing activities in the waters up to 100 nautical miles from the baselines of the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands are laid down in Article 5 of the above-mentioned Regulation which entered into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (cf. Article 16), i.e. on 14 November 2003. Consequently, the special conditions for fishing in the waters of the Azores and Madeira are applicable from that date onwards. It is up to the national authorities to verify that these rules are followed.

As regards the conservation of the maritime environment in Azorean waters, the Commission would like to draw the Honourable Member's attention to a Commission proposal that was tabled on 3 February 2004 (2). This proposal for a Council Regulation envisages an amendment of Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 (3) which would prohibit trawling in the waters around the Azores as well as around Madeira and the Canary Islands. As far as conservation of fisheries resources is concerned, there are a number of instruments available within the Common Fisheries Policy and which are applied in the Azorean waters as elsewhere, most notably total allowable catches (TACs) and Quotas, and management of fishing effort.

Finally, the Commission is in constant dialogue with the concerned Member States in order to ensure as smooth an application of the new rules as possible.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1954/2003 of 4 November 2003 on the management of the fishing effort relating to certain Community fishing areas and resources and modifying Regulation (EC) No 2847/93 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 685/95 and (EC) No 2027/95, OJ L 289, 7.11.2003.

(2) COM(2004) 58 final.

(3) Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms, OJ L 125, 27.4.1998.