Proposal for a Council Decision on the withdrawal by the European Community from the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and Belts
Date: 2004-08-31
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Baltic Sea, Russia, conservation of fish stocks, enlargement of the Union, fishing agreement, international convention, withdrawal from an agreement, world organisation

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 31.8.2004 
COM(2004) 577 final 

2004/0197 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

On the withdrawal by the European Community from the Convention on Fishing and 
Conservation of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and Belts 

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and 
the Belts (Gdansk Convention) of 1973, The Convention established the International Baltic 
Sea  Fishery  Commission  (IBSFC).  This  organisation  is  the  Regional  Fishery  Organisation 
responsible  for  the  management  of  fisheries  in  the  Baltic  Sea.  All  waters  in  the  Baltic  Sea 
come within national jurisdiction and there are therefore no high seas areas. The Community 
acceded to the Convention 19831. 

The main features of the activities of the IBSFC are the fixing and allocation of annual fishing 
possibilities for cod, salmon, herring and sprat, as well as the establishment and adoption of 
technical conservation measures for these fisheries. In addition the Organisation has been the 
leading party as regards actions for fisheries within the framework of the Agenda 21 plan for 
the Baltic Sea region. It also works closely together with HELCOM on environmental issues 
where, inter alia, it takes the lead in restoring wild salmon populations in Baltic rivers. There 
are currently six Contracting Parties to the IBSFC, namely the European Community, Estonia, 
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Russian Federation. 

Following the enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004, in accordance with Article 
6  (12)  of  the  Act  of  Accession  of  2003,  the  four  new  Member  States  have  an  obligation  to 
take  the  necessary  steps  to  withdraw  from  the  Gdansk  Convention  at  the  date  of  their 
accession  or  at  the  earliest  possible  date  thereafter.  According  to  the  rules  of  the  Gdansk 
Convention  a  withdrawal  notified  to  the  Depositary  Government  (Poland)  during  2004  will 
take  effect  on  31  December  2005.  Following  these  withdrawals,  there  will  remain  only  two 
Contracting Parties, namely the European Community and the Russian Federation. The result 
of this will be that many of the current IBSFC procedures, such as qualified voting by a two-
thirds  majority,  will  become  obsolete.  Effectively,  the  organisation  will  become  a  bilateral 
forum. 

The  future  of  the  IBSFC  was  discussed  at  the  Annual  Session  of  the  IBSFC  in  Vilnius  in 
September  and  October  2003.  All  Delegations  except  that  of  the  Russian  Federation 
recognised  that  the  organisation  would  become  redundant  following  the  enlargement  of  the 
European Union, in practice from 1 January 2005. They also agreed that the current tasks of 
the IBSFC would be better managed on a bilateral basis by the Community and the Russian 
Federation from that date.  

As  the  only  other  Party  which  would  remain  as  a  Contracting  Party  to  the  Gdansk 
Convention,  the  Russian  Federation  has  already  indicated  that  it  is  not  in  favour  of  the 
dissolution of the IBSFC.  

The Commission services met representatives from the State Committee for Fisheries of the 
Russian  Federation  in  October  2003,  at  which  time  the  Commission  made  it  clear  that  its 
preference  was  for  the  termination  of  the  IBSFC.  With  the  Russian  Federation  only  being 
responsible  for  about  5%  of  the  fishery  resources  of  the  Baltic  Sea  in  very  limited  areas 
around  Kaliningrad  and  St Petersburg,  and  with  all  waters  in  the  Baltic  Sea  under  national 
jurisdiction, the Commission’s view is that an international Convention between two Parties is 
an  inappropriate  and  disproportionate  mechanism  for  discharging  the  Parties’  obligations  to 
co-operate on fisheries management. 

1  

OJ L 237, 26.9.1983, p. 4 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Fishery resources in the Baltic Sea would be better managed in the framework of a bilateral 
European  Community  –  Russian  Federation  fisheries  agreement,  if  necessary  limited  to  the 
Baltic  Sea.  Such  an  agreement  could  include  reciprocal  access  to  fish  and  exchanges  of 
quotas,  as  well  as  agreements  on  technical  measures.  Furthermore,  in  accordance  with  the 
Treaties  of  Accession,  such  an  agreement  would  necessarily  integrate  the  existing  bilateral 
agreements  between  the  Russian  Federation  and  Estonia,  Finland,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Poland 
and Sweden respectively within a single bilateral agreement. 

It will be necessary during these negotiations to ensure that in any new fisheries relationship 
established  with  the  Russian  Federation  in  the  Baltic  Sea  there  are  no  gaps  in  the  fisheries 
management  following  the  termination  of  the  Gdansk  Convention  as  a  result  of  the 
Community’s  withdrawel.  This  will  ensure  that  the  obligations  of  both  the  Community  and 
the Russian Federation are fulfilled in full conformity with the United Nations Convention on 
the Law of the Sea, and in particular with the provisions pertaining to the conservation and 
management of fish stocks. 

The Council is requested to adopt this proposal as soon as possible so that the Depositary of 
the  Gdansk  Convention  can  be  notified  of  the  withdrawal  by  the  Community  before  31 
December 2004. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
2004/0197 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

On the withdrawal by the European Community from the Convention on Fishing and 
Conservation of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and Belts 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 
37 in conjunction with Article 300(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 300(3) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission2, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament3, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

The Community is a Contracting Party to the Convention on Fishing and Conservation 
of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and Belts4 (the Gdansk Convention). 

Article  XIX  of  the  Gdansk  Convention  provides  for  the  withdrawal  from  the 
Convention by a Contracting Party. 

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have an obligation to take the necessary steps to 
withdraw from the Gdansk Convention at the date of their accession or at the earliest 
possible  date  thereafter  in  accordance  with  Article  6  (12)  of  the  2003  Act  of 
Accession. 

Following  the  withdrawal  of  those  new  Member  States,  the  Community  and  the 
Russian  Federation  will  be  the  only  remaining  Contracting  Parties  to  the  Gdansk 
Convention  and  approximately  95  %  of  the  Convention  area  will  be  Community 
waters. 

The maintenance of an international fisheries organisation for the purpose of managing 
fisheries in waters that fall entirely under the jurisdiction of only two Parties would be 
disproportionate and inefficient. The Community should therefore withdraw from the 
Gdansk Convention, 

2 
3 
4 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L 237, 25.7.1983, p. 4 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
                                                 
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Article 1 

The European Community shall withdraw from the Convention on Fishing and Conservation 
of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and the Belts. 

Article 2 

The  President  of  the  Council  is  hereby  authorised  to  designate  the  persons  empowered  to 
notify the Depositary of the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources 
in  the  Baltic  Sea  and  the  Belts  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  European  Community  from  the 
Convention. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

5 

   EN