WRITTEN QUESTION No. 118/98 by Jesús CABEZÓN ALONSO to the Council. Fisheries agreement with Morocco: biological rest period
Date: 1998-01-30
Institutions: CABEZON ALONSO, European Parliament
Subjects: Morocco, common fisheries policy, environmental protection, fisheries policy, fishery management, fishing agreement, fishing regulations

22. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 196/117

As regards the instruments adopted by the Council in order to discourage illegal immigration, reference is made
to the reply by the Council to written question No E-3773/97.

A number of instruments have been adopted concerning the conditions for admission of third-country nationals
to the territory of Member States. At their Copenhagen meeting on 1 June 1993, Ministers with responsibility for
immigration  adopted  the  Resolution  on  the  harmonization  of  national  policies  on  family  reunification.
Subsequently, the Council adopted the following resolutions:

›  Council resolution of 20 June 1994 on limitations on admission of third-country nationals to the territory of

the Member States for employment (OJ C 274, 19.9.1996, p. 3);

›  Council resolution of 30 November 1994 relating to the limitations on admission of third-country nationals
to  the  territory  of  the  Member  States  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  activities  as  self-employed  persons
(OJ C 274, 19.9.1996, p. 7); and

›  Council resolution of 30 November 1994 on the admission of third-country nationals to the territory of the

Member States for study purposes (OJ C 274, 19.9.1996, p. 10).

The Council regularly monitors the implementation by Member States of these instruments, in accordance with
the Council decision of 22 December 1995 on monitoring the implementation of instruments already adopted
concerning the admission of third-country nationals (OJ C 11, 16.1.1995, p. 1).

Furthermore, this matter is the subject of the Commission proposal for a Council Act establishing the Convention
on rules for the admission of third-country nationals to the Member States (OJ C 337, 7.11.1997, p. 9), which is
currently under review in the competent working group of the Council.

Finally,  the  Council  is  aware  that  racketeers  are  behind  the  planning  and  facilitation  of  much  of  the  illegal
immigration,  particularly  the  recent  migration  influx  from  Iraq  and  the  neighbouring  region  to  which  the
Honourable Member referred in his question. For this reason, the Council considers that the tackling of illegal
immigration is also an effective means of preventing the spread of criminal organizations from third countries in
Europe. In this respect, reference is made to the EU Action Plan, adopted by the Council on 26 January 1998, to
respond  to  the  recent  increase  of  migrants  from  Iraq  and  the  neighbouring  region.  The  Action  Plan  covers
different aspects of this recent influx. It includes, in particular, elements aimed, on the one hand, at bringing
together,  analysing  and  acting  upon  all  available  intelligence  on  the  involvement  of  organised  crime  in
clandestine immigration networks, and on the other, at identifying any linkage to other areas of transnational
organised crime in which the groups concerned may be involved.

(98/C 196/163)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0118/98

by Jesu·s Cabezo·n Alonso (PSE) to the Council

(30 January 1998)

Subject: Fisheries agreement with Morocco: biological rest period

Does  the  planned  extension  of  the  biological  rest  period  for  the  fishing  fleet  decided  on  by  the  Kingdom  of
Morocco, which goes beyond that provided for in the current Fisheries Agreement between Morocco and the
European Union, have the express approval of the Fisheries Ministers of all the Member States?

Answer

(30 March 1998)

The reply to this question is in the negative.

At  its  meeting  on  18/19  December  1997,  the  Council  was  briefed  by  the  Commission  on  the  difficulties
experienced  in  applying  the  Fisheries  Agreement  with  the  Kingdom  of  Morocco.  The  Council  expressed
considerable concern on this issue and asked the Commission to press on with its efforts to guarantee compliance
with the undertakings entered into.