WRITTEN QUESTION E-3853/00

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Council

(20 December 2000)

Subject: Enlargement and fisheries

After two years of negotiations with the applicant countries in the Luxembourg Group (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus) and

the start of negotiations with the Helsinki Group (Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta) on 28 March this year, the European Parliament has adopted a new resolution (R5-0417/2000(1) of 4 October 2000) on the enlargement of the European Union, setting out the EP's requests with regard to the accession procedure and the negotiations being held on the subject. In its contribution to the resolution Parliament's Committee on Fisheries made a number of demands concerning fisheries.

Could the Council indicate the approximate timetable for the fisheries debate in the context of the accession negotiations with both the Luxembourg Group and the Helsinki Group and, if appropriate, the stage reached in the negotiations and the progress made so far?

Can the Council say whether the fisheries negotiations will take account of the concerns of the Committee on Fisheries, in particular the urgent need to remedy the considerable shortcomings in the administration of fisheries in most of the applicant countries as regards environmental and health standards, as well as inspection and control measures, the need for reliable information on the structure of the fisheries sector in the applicant countries, the abolition of distortions such as flags of convenience, and the administrative structures needed to provide detailed and reliable information on the fisheries sector and ensure full compliance with the acquis?

(1) Texts adopted of 4 October 2000, p. 1.

Reply

(8 March 2001)

In the context of the individual intergovernmental Accession Conferences with Cyprus, Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, it has been agreed that, at this stage, the Fisheries chapter does not require further negotiation. Nonetheless, the EU will continue to closely monitor each candidate's progress in the adoption and implementation of the acquis. For Poland, Malta and Latvia, further negotiations in this chapter are necessary on the basis of additional information to be provided by these countries. In the case of Romania, Lithuania and Bulgaria, the Fisheries chapter has not yet been opened for negotiation.

As for all the chapters of the acquis under negotiation, the accession negotiations are carried out on the basis of the acquis in force. This includes inspection and control measures, as well as health and veterinary standards, and fleet registration. New acquis adopted before the conclusion of the negotiations will be taken into account as appropriate. It should also be noted that the Union attaches particular importance to the capacity of the candidate countries to implement the Common Fisheries Policy.

Finally, it is recalled that the road map for the accession negotiations proposed by the Commission, and welcomed by the Council in its conclusions of 4 December 2000, provides for the Union to define, where appropriate, EU common positions on Fisheries during the second half of 2001, including on requests for transitional measures and other outstanding substantive issues, with a view to the provisional closure of this chapter once the conditions are met.