European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission on application of the precautionary principle and multiannual arrangements for setting TACs (COM(2000) 803 - C5-0106/2001 - 2001/2055(COS))
Date: 2001-12-12
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: authorised catch, catch quota, common fisheries policy, conservation of fish stocks, fishery management

25.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 177 E/139

Wednesday 12 December 2001

10.
Is aware of the arguments which have been raised against the KEDO project but, having considered
these and the options very carefully, believes there is no realistic alternative to the LWRs for energy
production at this point;

11.
Is seriously concerned, however, about the absence of an adequate grid system in the DPRK and its
implications for the utilisation of the LWRs; is aware that without an extensive modification of the existing
grid and a connection to another system ’ whether the ROK, China or Russia ’ the LWRs cannot be
used; while aware that under the 1995 KEDO-DPRK reactor supply contract, KEDO is not required to help
the North to upgrade its grid, asks the Commission to ascertain from KEDO what realistic arrangements
are foreseen for this vital, complementary element to the LWRs;

12. Welcomes the fact that the EU sought ’ and obtained ’ favourable terms for the renewal of the
Accession Agreement;

Recommends, in the light of the above considerations, that the Commission take the necessary steps

13.
to conclude the renewal of the Accession Agreement;

14.
Deplores, however, the continuing failure of the Commission to respect the undertaking given in a
well-documented (1) exchange of letters providing for Parliament to express its opinion on all significant
agreements based on the Euratom Treaty before their conclusion; is aware that the EP has on occasion
blocked funding for KEDO pending the receipt of information requested from the Commission;

Is reluctant, however, to sacrifice the renewal of the EU’s involvement in this instrument for EU-

15.
DPRK cooperation to a principle which, though very important, has not yet been formalised;

Stresses, however, that it will continue to push for an appropriate Inter-Institutional Agreement

16.
(IIA) and that it reserves the right to block transfer of funds to KEDO at any point in the future;

Stresses, in conclusion, that the DPRK will have to show evidence of good faith as the KEDO
17.
project progresses, in particular when the final IAEA verification is due, just before the reactors are due
to be delivered;

18.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, the governments
of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, Japan
and the KEDO Executive Board.

(1) Annex to the abovementioned resolution of 23.3.1999.

7. Precautionary principle and multiannual arrangements for setting TACs

(procedure without debate)

A5-0407/2001

European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission on application of the
precautionary principle and multiannual arrangements for setting TACs (COM(2000) 803 )
C5-0106/2001 ) 2001/2055(COS))

The European Parliament,

’ having regard to the Commission communication (COM(2000) 803 ’ C5-0106/2001),

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

’ having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries (A5-0407/2001),

C 177 E/140

Official Journal of the European Communities

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25.7.2002

Wednesday 12 December 2001

A. whereas the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, to which the
European Union is a party, requires that measures be adopted to guarantee sustainable fishing,

B. whereas the FAO Code of Conduct for responsible fishing and the United Nations Agreement on the
conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks refer to the
adoption of the precautionary principle in order to guarantee the conservation and management of
marine resources and the marine environment, and whereas, in particular, Annex II of the UN Agree-
ment provides a comprehensive, operational definition of the precautionary approach to fisheries
management,

C. whereas the situation with regard to fishery resources is characterised by the fact that many commer-
cial species are over-exploited and indeed face the risk of biological collapse, and whereas the Scien-
tific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries has itself noted that the vast majority of stocks
do not conform to its definition of a precautionary approach,

D. whereas, in order to secure more accurate scientific assessments of the state of fisheries resources and
with a view to removing any uncertainties more successfully, scientific experts from the countries and
communities affected and representatives from the fisheries sector should be involved in the studies
and research projects,

E. whereas the over-fished species and the sectors of the fishing fleet which are engaged in catching

those species must be identified clearly and with scientific accuracy,

F.

noting that fishing gears and practices as used at present lead to large quantities of quota species being
discarded,

G. having regard to the emergency decisions which have had to be taken this year concerning cod in the
North Sea and Scotland area and the northern hake stock, which demonstrate the failure of the
measures for the rational management of fishery resources currently in force in the European Union,

H. whereas all the factors which affect the volume of fisheries resources and the sustainability thereof (in

particular pollution, transport by sea and illegal fishing) must be evaluated,

I.

having regard to the sweeping criticism voiced by the industry with regard to the system of total
allowable catches (TACs) by the EU Council of Ministers each December, including its frequent prac-
tice of setting TACs at levels in excess of those recommended by the scientific advisory bodies,

J. whereas the application of the precautionary principle in setting TACs is a necessary measure to

ensure the continuity of species and the rational exploitation of resources in the long term,

Notes the substance of the Commission communication on application of the precautionary principle

1.
and multiannual arrangements for setting TACs and shares its objectives;

2.

Calls for the Commission to give a clear definition of multiannuality;

Considers that the system of TACs and quotas should be the cornerstone of the future common

3.
fisheries policy;

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Wednesday 12 December 2001

4.
Trusts that measures to conserve resources will be a priority topic in the imminent reform of the
common fisheries policy, and that decisions will be taken that are realistic when measured against the state
of stocks, effective and consistent;

In that context, points out that the most important aspect of a rigorous precautionary approach to
5.
fisheries involves the choice of target and limit reference points which are sufficiently conservation
oriented;

Calls on the Commission and Council, when setting TACs, to use available scientific data, duly

6.
verified, as a determining criterion and to take information from fishermen into consideration;

7.
Urges the Council to take decisions on setting catches in line with the actual situation as regards
stocks, avoiding the adoption of measures based more on socio-economic circumstances than on a rigor-
ous analysis of the state of stocks, and avoiding arbitrary measures which are impossible to comply with;

Urges the Commission to carry out thorough research into fisheries resources so that better use can

8.
be made of data relating to stocks;

9.
Stresses that setting multiannual and multi-species TACs, a measure which favours the conservation
of resources, will not in itself be very effective unless coherent decisions are taken designed to improve the
operation of other important aspects of the common fisheries policy such as restructuring the Community
fleet, fisheries monitoring, reducing discards and improving the technical measures used; regrets in particu-
lar in this regard that the Commission has failed to take the opportunity, in devising a scheme for the
allocation of resources, to put forward a comprehensive and workable plan to solve the problem of dis-
cards;

10.
Urges the Commission and the Council to study the effect which industrial fishing for the purposes
of fishmeal production (which these days absorbs one-third of the fish caught in Community waters) has
on fisheries resources and, in doing so, to apply the precautionary principle right from the start;

11.
Stresses that, with regard to the setting of multiannual TACs, it would be sensible to make the
required mechanisms flexible so that they can be adjusted when necessary; they should be established for
the purpose of achieving certain targets within a given period of time and should not serve solely to
impose a ceiling on catches;

Is of the opinion that when fish of species for which TACs have been set are discarded at sea, the

12.
quantities discarded should be counted against quotas;

Takes the view that the Commission and Council must make provision for additional socio-econ-
13.
omic measures to support the sector in order to compensate fisheries workers whose professional activity
is significantly curtailed as a consequence of the cuts in catches which will have to be made owing to the
unforeseeable decline in stocks; such support must be available on an equitable basis throughout the EU
and in addition to financial structural measures for compensation and regeneration, there must be effective
and practical measures to facilitate diversification;

14.

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