WRITTEN QUESTION P-0515/04 by Luís Queiró (UEN) to the Commission. Scientific and technical opinions for management of Community fisheries.
Date: 2004-02-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, common fisheries policy, conservation of fish stocks, fishing grounds, scientific report, transparency in decision-making

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/421

(2004/C 84 E/0491)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0515/04

by Luís Queiró (UEN) to the Commission

(17 February 2004)

Subject: Scientific and technical opinions for management of Community fisheries

The Carlos Lage report
(A5-0023/2004) tabled in the EP plenary on 10 February 2004 raises the
important issue of the reliability of the scientific opinions used for fisheries management, given the
frequent disagreements between scientists and fishermen over the state of fish stocks. EU measures based
on the available scientific opinions can have severe social and economic consequences for fishing
communities, and it is therefore necessary to be aware of the importance of the matter and the need to
improve the quality of the opinions.

Carlos Lage’s warning comes at a timely moment, coinciding with the need for the Community to ground
the common fisheries policy in scientific opinions that are of higher quality and more relevant
characteristics. This will allow a more scientific basis than hitherto.

The ‘apparent unwillingness’ on the Commission’s part identified by Carlos Lage cannot be allowed to
continue: the Commission seems unwilling to take proper account of the various scientific opinions
available, and thus runs the risk of appearing biased in its decisions, which as a rule tend to be
unfavourable to the already highly vulnerable fishing communities.

Is the Commission willing to respond positively to Parliament’s position, as now adopted, and submit
divergent scientific opinions to a higher scientific body with a view to resolving their contradictions?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2004)

The Commission bases its proposals for the management of fisheries on scientific advice provided by
international bodies, notably the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The working
groups of ICES that assess the state of the stocks are made up of scientists from the Community Member
States concerned, as well as countries with shared interests in the stocks, such as Norway, Russia and
Iceland.

These many scientists bring to ICES all the available data collected by their respective countries, including
any information that has been provided by fishermen. The assessments done by these scientists represent
their consensus opinion on the state of the stocks. The assessments are reviewed by the Advisory
Committee for Fisheries Management (ACFM) before being released by ICES. The advice of the ACFM is
further scrutinised by the Commission’s Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries
(STECF).

The Commission therefore considers that diverging data and interpretations are already taken into account,
and whilst the Commission agrees that greater transparency in the methods used by ICES is desirable for
the purposes of debate,
it is not clear what superior scientific body could be asked to resolve any
contradictory views concerning its advice.

(2004/C 84 E/0492)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0524/04

by Eluned Morgan (PSE) to the Commission

(17 February 2004)

Subject: The Constitution

Can the Commission confirm that, if a Member State were to divide as a result of a region democratically
gaining independence, that the precedent set by Algeria would apply?