Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the "Communication from the Commission on an integrated framework for fisheries partnership agreements with third countries" (COM(2002) 637 final)
Date: 2003-09-03
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: agreement (EU), common fisheries policy, development policy, fishing agreement, fishing industry, third country

3.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 208/35

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the
Commission on an integrated framework for fisheries partnership agreements with third
countries’

(COM(2002) 637 final)

(2003/C 208/09)

On 23 December 2002 the Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-
mentioned communication.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 1 April 2003. The rapporteur
was Mr Sarró Iparraguirre.

At its 399th plenary session on 14 and 15 May 2003 (meeting of 14 May), the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 110 votes for, none against and 10 abstentions.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
The Community began to conclude fisheries agree-
ments with third countries following a Council resolution of
3 November 1976 in which the Member States agreed to
transfer their competence in this domain to the EC.

The Commission believes it essential to reform fisheries
1.2.
agreements policy (1)
jointly with the public and private
sectors, in order to reconfirm the commitment of the Com-
munity to contribute to the sustainable development of fishing
activities at international level.

1.3.
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) in Johannesburg, the Community subscribed to the
specific objective to ‘maintain or restore stocks to levels that
can produce the maximum sustainable yield with the aim of
achieving these goals for depleted stocks on an urgent basis
and where possible not later than 2015’.

The Commission intends to achieve this objective

1.4.
through:

1.4.1. Multilateral actions with coastal states covering dis-
tant waters fisheries, straddling stocks and highly migratory
species,
to defend the legitimate objectives of its fishing
industry, based on international and regional cooperation for
the sustainable exploitation of resources in keeping with sound
scientific advice and better control and enforcement systems.

Continuity agreements, particularly with coastal
1.4.2.
states neighbouring on the EU with whom there are tradition-
ally shared fishing interests and balanced relations.

1.4.3.
Fisheries partnership agreements (FPAs) with coastal
states where bilateral relations are characterised by economic,
social or institutional differences.

1.5.
The present communication focuses on the fisheries
agreements concluded with third countries that involve the
payment of a financial contribution, in line with the Council
Conclusions of 30 October 1997.

Since these agreements are mainly with developing

1.6.
countries, and in particular ACP states, it is necessary to:

1.6.1.
examine the political objectives of the Community
commitments to promote policy dialogue in fisheries matters;
and

1.6.2.
identify and define the measures which should be
adopted to achieve the political objectives jointly identified by
the EC and the third countries.

2. General comments

The Commission’s communication basically focuses on:

— technical and policy ties between distant water fisheries

and the European Union;

— European Union objectives and commitments;

— Community commitments and the need for fisheries

agreements;

( 1) COM(2002) 181 final, 28.5.2002.

— how FPAs are to be implemented.

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2.1.

Technical and policy ties between distant water fisheries and
the European Union

— within the European development policy, to foster the
capacity of developing countries to exploit their marine
resources by boosting local added value.

2.1.1.
The Commission states that the fisheries agreements
have allowed stable relationships to be established with
15 developing coastal states, generating in both the European
Union and the coastal states important, often vital, economic
activities, not only through the exploitation of fishing resources
but also through associated activities.

The communication acknowledges the difficulty
2.1.2.
experienced by the distant water fishing fleet, since it
is
operating in a global context of scarcity and overexploitation
of some fish stocks, caused principally by flag of convenience
fleets carrying out illegal and unregulated fishery operations at
lower costs. This leads to increasing distortion of competition
and the growth of practices which offer fewer guarantees for
the maintenance of sustainable fisheries activity.

2.1.3.
committed itself to:

The Commission points out that the EC has also

2.2.3.
In order to meet these short- and long-term objec-
tives, the various European policies must be concerted in
accordance with the principles of coherence and comp-
lementarity enshrined in the Treaty and focus, in conjunction
with the Member States’ development policies, on concluding
FPAs with third coastal countries.

2.2.4.
The communication argues that in the medium term,
without policy initiatives of this kind on the part of the EU,
the Community distant water fishing fleet will not be scrapped,
but will change to flags of convenience. If the EU is to retain
its international leadership role of promoting the principles
of responsible fisheries and sustainable development, the
Community fleet must be kept as a vehicle for the implemen-
tation of these principles.

— increasing its contribution to sustainable development in

its environmental, economic and social aspects;

2.2.5.
The Committee believes that the Commission’s pro-
posed objective of ensuring consistency between all European
policies is essential, and must be achieved as soon as possible.

— improving global good governance at political and finan-

cial levels;

— contributing to the eradication of poverty, and to the
integration of the ACP states into the world

gradual
economy.

The EESC recognises the present and future mutual
2.1.4.
benefits flowing from FPAs. At the same time it expresses
concern at
resource situation, and urges the
Commission to pursue a sustainable fisheries policy, in keeping
with the conclusions of the Council of 30 October 1997 and
the European Community’s WSSD commitments.

the global

2.2.

EU objectives and commitments

2.2.1.
The European Union has repeatedly agreed that it
will contribute to sustainable fisheries both within and beyond
Community waters.

The communication sets out the Commission’s spec-
2.2.2.
ific fisheries objectives under the various different European
policies:

— within the Common Fisheries Policy, to maintain the
European presence in distant water fisheries and protect
the interests of the European fisheries sector; and

2.2.6.
The EESC favours maintaining the EU’s distant water
fleet so that it can serve as a channel for applying a sustainable
policy for exploiting third country fishery resources, while at
the same time the EC’s commitments to environmentally,
economically and socially sustainable development, and to
contribute to good governance and the eradication of poverty,
can be upheld.

2.3. Community commitments and the need for fisheries partner-

ship agreements

The communication restates the Community’s com-
2.3.1.
mitments, considering that
the Community must work
through FPAs in order to promote implementation of the
Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (FAO, 1995) and
the Compliance Agreement with International Conservation
and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High
Seas (FAO, 1993).

2.3.2.
This position is embedded in the Council Resolution
of 8 November 2001, which acknowledges the potential role
of fisheries agreements in helping to reduce poverty when
they are designed and implemented in compliance with the
sustainability principles.

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2.3.3.
The Commission clearly states its view that the EC’s
commitments to sustainable development, good governance
and the eradication of poverty can be carried forward within
the binding framework of FPAs between the European Union
and third coastal countries, usually developing and ACP
countries.

2.3.4.
The EESC, while in full agreement with this approach,
must remind the Commission that the Council Conclusions of
30 October 1997, to which the communication twice refers,
also recognises the essentially commercial nature of fisheries
agreements while affirming that they should provide for
actions to develop the fisheries sector of the third country.

agreements can provide the financial
instruments to bring
about transfer of technology, capital and know-how to the
countries concerned.

2.3.10.
The EESC believes that joint enterprises are an
appropriate instrument for fisheries cooperation with coastal
states. Under the new FPA arrangements the creation of such
joint enterprises should be facilitated, making them attractive
to Community investors.

2.4. How fisheries partnership agreements are to be implemented

2.3.5.
Based on this approach, the communication specifies
that all such commitments require a binding framework
between the Community and the coastal states, and that this
binding framework must be built into the FPAs, applying the
principle of coherence to the various Community policies.

The Commission points out that the overall objective
2.4.1.
of the CFP is to ensure the sustainable management of fisheries
resources from an economic, social and environmental point
of view, including outside Community waters, and in particular
within the framework of FPAs concluded with third countries.

2.3.6.
The Committee agrees fully with this view, and is
convinced that the binding framework of FPAs must ensure
consistency between the EU’s external activities, taking on
board the objectives of sustainable fisheries development,
including management of resources, control, and fleet manage-
ment.

The EESC believes that, as the communication argues,
2.3.7.
each state’s ownership of
its fisheries policy should be
respected. This policy must be based on sound scientific and
technical advice, avoid overexploitation of resources, and take
account of environmental impact assessments, with a view to
taking the necessary remedial measures. To this end, public
funds must be forthcoming to apply the principles of good
governance to responsible fisheries management.

2.3.8.
Coastal states experience difficulty in implementing
the control, monitoring and surveillance activities which are
needed in the application of FPAs; the EESC is therefore of the
view that public funds should also be brought to bear on these
activities.

2.3.9.
The communication envisages setting up joint enter-
prises under the FPA legal framework, believing that the

2.4.2.
Similarly, the communication recalls that in order to
ensure coherence between the external and internal dimensions
of the CFP, as well as between the CFP and the Community’s
development cooperation policy, the instruments and pro-
cedures of each policy must contribute to the achievement of
the overall objectives of long-term sustainability of fishing
activities in third country waters.

The Committee feels that these two points represent
2.4.3.
two of the three basic pillars on which FPAs should rest. As
the Council has stated,
the third pillar should be their
commercial aspect.

The Committee therefore urges the Commission to
2.4.4.
expand the scope of FPAs to boost
the capacity of the
Community’s partner coastal states to participate in a sustain-
able fisheries development policy, by offering effective support
for the responsible management of their fisheries resources, so
that they can bring overexploitation and illegal, unreported
and unregulated fisheries practices under control.

2.4.5.
The communication’s view is that in order to shift
the scope of the FPAs, the Community’s financial contribution
must be increased. The Commission argues that this cannot be
considered as a subsidy to European fishermen, but should
rather be seen as adequate support to the development and
management of sustainable fisheries policy in the countries
where the Community distant waters fleet is operating. It also
proposes that the private sector should progressively assume
greater responsibility for the financial contribution.

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2.4.6.
The financial contribution, which the Commission
describes as an investment for the improvement of responsible
and rational fishing, is to cover (i) expenses linked to manage-
ment costs, the scientific assessment of fish stocks, fisheries
management, control and monitoring of fishing activities and
expenses for the follow-up and evaluation of a sustainable
fisheries policy, and (ii) expenses arising from fishing oppor-
tunities offered to Community vessels.

2.4.7.
The communication therefore proposes that, in the
new proportionality which the financial contribution will have
in FPAs, the relative weight of fishing opportunities should be
of secondary importance, with the main element instead being
the mutual interest of the parties in establishing responsible
fishing on a sustainable basis.

The EESC agrees with this approach regarding the
2.4.8.
financial contribution, recalling that under the proportionality
which the Commission proposes to bring to the financial
contribution — which the communication says will be exam-
ined on a case-by-case basis — the relative share of the
Community interests in exploitation of surpluses should, as
the Council declares, reflect the commercial nature of fisheries
agreements.

The

communication lays down guidelines

for
2.4.9.
implementing a prior policy dialogue between the Community
and the coastal state concerned in order to define a policy of
sustainable development of fisheries activities by Community
vessels in third country waters. The EESC judges these
guidelines to be rational.

In view of the progressively greater responsibility
2.4.10.
of
the
the private sector for the financial contribution,
Committee believes that the Commission must ensure that the
sector is involved in implementing FPAs.

Brussels, 14 May 2003.

3. Conclusions

3.1.
Recalling the Council Conclusions of October 1997,
which furnished the Commission with guidelines for EC
fisheries agreements with third countries, the present EEC
opinion expresses agreement with the communication from
the Commission on an integrated framework for fisheries
partnership agreements with third countries in keeping with
the principles laid down by the Council in October 1997:

— essentially commercial nature,

including actions

to

develop the fisheries sector of third countries;

— promotion of sustainable development of the fisheries
sector of third countries, meeting the EC’s commitments
to:

— increasing its contribution to sustainable develop-
ment in its environmental, economic and social
aspects;

— improving global good governance at political and

financial levels; and

— contributing to the eradication of poverty, and to
the gradual integration of the ACP states into the
world economy;

— coherence in the necessary coordination and comp-
lementarity of actions under the various European poli-
cies, and particularly between the Common Fisheries
Policy and the European Development Policy.

The EESC considers that the continuity agreements
3.2.
referred to in the communication require further examination.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH