WRITTEN QUESTION E-0402/00 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Arrest of the skipper of a fishing vessel on Réunion.
Date: 2000-02-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, Galicia, Réunion, arrest, common fisheries policy, fisherman, fishing rights, restriction of liberty

28.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 374 E/67

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(24 March 2000)

Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 (1) introduced a Community registration and protection scheme for the
geographical designations of agricultural products and certain foodstuffs. Wine sector products are not
covered. Meat-based products such as pork pies are among the types of foodstuff to which the scheme
applies.

Application for inclusion in the scheme is a voluntary matter. It would be up to a group of the relevant
producers to launch the procedure for registration of the name Melton Mowbray Pork Pies under
Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92.

Article 4 of the Regulation requires submission of a specification exactly defining the product and
geographical area concerned and showing how the two are linked. Compliance with the criteria set for
registering the name as a (cid:145)geographical indication(cid:146) or those for registering it as a (cid:145)designation of origin(cid:146)
must be demonstrated.

A decision on conformity of the application with the Regulation(cid:146)s requirements would not be possible
unless all the necessary information had been transmitted to the Commission through the agency of the
United Kingdom authorities.

A Community procedure for objection to the protection of any particular name is designed to protect the
interests of other producers. This involves a notice in the Official Journal.

(1) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992.

(2000/C 374 E/078)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0402/00

by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: Arrest of the skipper of a fishing vessel on RØunion

(15 February 2000)

The Galician citizen JosØ Ram(cid:243)n Hombre Sobrido, skipper of the fishing vessel Camouco, was arrested
more than two months ago on RØunion, where he is still being detained.

The Commission(cid:146)s Director-General for Fisheries did not give a specific reply to my question on the subject
in Parliament(cid:146)s Committee on Fisheries.

Is the Commission aware of the situation, and does it know on what grounds this European citizen is
being detained by the authorities of France, an EU Member State?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(3 April 2000)

In September 1999 Mr Hombre Sobrido, the master of the fishing vessel Camouco, which flies a Panama
flag and is owned by Merce Pesca sa, was arrested by a French frigate for alleged unlawful fishing of
toothfish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Crozet Islands (Reunion). Mr Hombre Sobrido was
later released from arrest, but is still confined to the island as the authorities took away his passport.

On 14 January 2000 Panama requested the release of the vessel and its master in the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. This is a tribunal which has been established by the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It delivered its judgement on 7th February 2000 ordering the
prompt release on the deposit of a financial security of FRF 8 million. So far the French authorities did not
follow the judgement and claim to be not satisfied with the conditions of the deposit. A trial date was
scheduled at the Court of Appeals in RØunion for 24 March 2000 for the court to look into the matter of
the return of Mr Sobridos passport. A trial on the merits has been convened for 4 April 2000.