European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Community participation in Regional Fisheries Organisations (RFO) (COM(1999) 613 - C5-0108/2000 - 2000/2068(COS))
Date: 2000-11-15
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: fishery management, fishery resources, fishing regulations, international cooperation, international organisation

8.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 223/187

Wednesday 15 November 2000

10. Regional Fisheries Organisations (RFOs)

A5-0275/2000

European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission to the Council and
the European Parliament on Community participation in Regional Fisheries Organisations (RFO)
(COM(1999) 613 ( C5-0108/2000 ( 2000/2068(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission communication (COM(1999) 613 (cid:1) C5-0108/2000),

(cid:1) having regard to Article 37 of the EC Treaty,

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries and the opinion of the Committee on

Budgets (A5-0275/2000),

A. whereas the conservation of the ocean environment and the rational management of its exploitable

resources are a priority in Community action designed to safeguard the future of the fishing sector,

B. having regard to the growing importance of regional fisheries organisations as mechanisms for mana-
ging the marine environment and the fishery resources to be found in the exclusive economic zones
and, in particular, in the high seas,

C. bearing in mind that the existing regional fisheries organisations, which cover almost all the planet’s
oceans, have the potential to be the most effective instrument for the responsible management of fish
resources and one of the most effective means of combating over-exploitation of resources as a result
of undesirable phenomena such as fishing carried out by pirate ships or those flying under flags of
convenience,

D. whereas at present there are about 30 regional fisheries organisations with different administrative
methods, competences and operational structures, which means that the role played by the European
Union in all of them must be harmonised,

E.

having regard to the European Union’s commitment to and interest in developing the international
law of the sea, contained principally in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of
10 December 1982 and the Agreement applying the provisions of the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea for the conservation and management of fish stocks moving within and beyond
the exclusive economic zones (cid:1) straddling stocks and highly migratory fish stocks (cid:1) known as the
New York Agreement, adopted on 4 August 1995,

F. whereas the European Union is not a confederation of states, but a ‘sui generis’ entity in international
law, in which, according to the Treaty establishing it and its operational rules, there is a desire for
economic, social and political integration, requiring that the States respect the role assigned to each of
the Union institutions and refrain, by action or omission, from undermining the implementation of
the Union’s common policies such as the common fisheries policy,

G. whereas the Commission, which has legislative initiative, must submit appropriate proposals for the
actual implementation of the Union’s sectoral policies, and although these proposals and initiatives
must be capable of adoption by the Member States, they must not be half-hearted or inadequate for
the achievement of the Community’s interests,

H. whereas it is the role of the Commission not only to represent the Community’s interests and be
responsible for fulfilment of the commitments entered into, but also to guide, coordinate and prepare
the Community’s position in international fora for cooperation in the fisheries sphere, as well as to
monitor and coordinate the quality and accuracy of the data to be forwarded to the regional fisheries
organisations,

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I. whereas the development of a genuine common fisheries policy requires that the powers of monitor-

ing fishing activity must be assigned to the Commission,

J.

K.

reaffirming that the exercise of the powers to monitor the Community fleet in order to ensure that
such control is properly carried out, requires a uniform system of infringements and sanctions, applic-
able to all Community ships and fishermen, irrespective of the flag they sail under or the nationality
they claim, in order to avoid any discrimination caused by each national administration’s different way
of applying and interpreting legislation,

acknowledging that the establishment of a proper Community system of monitoring fisheries is bound
to entail a degree of sovereignty being transferred to the Union institutions, but that this transfer is
protected by Community law, provided that it is commensurate with and is within the limits needed
for the actual implementation of Community competences,

L.

recognising the responsibility of the Council and Parliament to provide the Commission with adequate
human and financial resources to enable it to carry out the duties and responsibilities assigned to it,

M. having regard to the slowness of the process of transposing into Community law the recommenda-

tions adopted in regional fisheries organisations, which helps to create legal uncertainty,

1.
Regrets the fact that the Commission communication is confined to dealing with aspects of the Com-
munity’s role in the regional fisheries organisations and to proposing a division of duties between the
Commission and the Member States;

2.
Calls on the Commission to submit, as a matter of urgency, a communication dealing comprehen-
sively with all the aspects of the regional fisheries organisations and containing the principles for Union
action vis-à-vis these bodies, which have taken the leading role in the new international law of the sea;

3.
Considers that the Commission must participate in all regional fisheries organisations which already
exist or are set up in the future. Its role, degree of representation and participation in the development of
their activities should be commensurate with the powers of these organisations, and it should allocate
adequate human and material resources to the interests of the Community fishing sector, which will be
at stake;

4.
Calls on the Commission to promote work on creating new regional fisheries organisations in those
areas where, because there is substantial fishing activity, international regulation is most needed, and to
give priority, in this work, to the areas where Community fleets operate, such as the Western and South-
ern Pacific;

5.
Considers that the Union’s participation in international fisheries organisations is an exclusive sphere
of competence of the Community and that the principle of the common fisheries policy’s adequacy of
resources requires that the cost of taking part in these organisations be borne by the Community budget,
including the cost of monitoring fisheries;

Considers that it is the responsibility of the Commission to represent, negotiate, coordinate and
6.
approve databases, ascertain that the information submitted to the RFOs meets the criteria of quality,
accuracy and regularity, participate in scientific fora and meetings and in general act on behalf of the
Community in regional fisheries organisations, including the monitoring of fisheries;

Understands that a lack of adequate human and material resources means that the Community’s
7.
powers are delegated to the Member State governments in some instances, but assumes that this situation
cannot become the norm or be extended indefinitely, and that the Commission must be given all the
resources needed to fulfil the duties deriving from its powers and that, even in this transitional period,
the Commission is not exempt from exercising its supervisory and monitoring powers over the activities
delegated to the Member States;

8.
Calls upon those Member States which have not completed their ratification of the 1995 UN Fish
Stocks Agreement to do so as soon as possible and to use that as a basis for working to strengthen the
role of regional fisheries organisations;

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Wednesday 15 November 2000

9.
Calls on the Commission, whilst increasing its duties and responsibilities within the regional fisheries
organisations, and taking into account the large number of organisations which implement arrangements
for migratory species, the fact that most of the new regional organisations whose creation is called for
have as their main if not sole purpose the regulation of fishing for this type of species, and in view of
the responsibility deriving from the European Union’s ratification of the New York Agreement on strad-
dling stocks and highly migratory fish species, to create a new unit for major migratory species as part of
the establishment plan for the Directorate-General for Fisheries;

10. Welcomes recent initiatives by some regional fisheries organisations to strengthen their control and
surveillance programmes, such as NAFO and NEAFC, or to implement trade- related measures, such as
ICCAT, so as to combat unregulated fishing, including by vessels flying flags of convenience;

11.
Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal on monitoring fisheries envisaging a uniform system
of infringements and sanctions and a set of applicable measures to ensure that fishery products from ships
which have not complied with the provisions laid down by the regional fisheries organisations to conserve
and manage rationally marine resources, cannot be sold on the Community market; notes that this requires
a comprehensive surveillance system which includes fisheries vessels as well as transport and supply vessels
which service them;

Acknowledges the legitimacy of the Commission’s position, in that it cannot be asked to extend the
12.
current scope of its duties without being given the appropriate resources to carry them out, and hence the
Council and Parliament, within the context of their competences, must accept their responsibility to ensure
that the Commission is able to carry out its duties satisfactorily;

Considers it essential that Parliament be given accurate and detailed information at regular intervals,

13.
on the important issues dealt with at meetings of regional fisheries organisations;

14.
Requests that Parliament be informed of the issues dealt with in the decision-making bodies of
regional fisheries organisations entailing legal obligations for the Community sufficiently early to enable
it to participate properly in the decision-making process;

15.
Agrees with the Commission on the need to reduce the deadlines for transposing into Community
law agreements binding on the Community adopted in regional fisheries organisations, and highlights the
need to improve the Commission’s administrative procedures and to make adequate preparations for the
Community position in the RFOs;

16.
Reminds the Commission, however, that decisions on the deliberations of the regional fisheries
organisations are an integral part of the Community’s policy on external relations, which entails an unde-
niable political element, and that thus its intention to circumvent the role of Council and Parliament in the
process is unacceptable;

17.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.