Proposal for a Council Decision for the establishment of the Community position in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)
Date: 2009-03-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Mediterranean Sea, fishing regulations, specialised committee, the EU's international role

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 5.3.2009 
COM(2009) 107 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

for the establishment of the Community position in the General Fisheries Commission 
for the Mediterranean (GFCM) 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

According to article 300(2), second subparagraph of  the  EC Treaty, where bodies set up by 
international  agreements  are  called  upon  to  adopt  decisions  having  legal  effects,  except  for 
decisions  supplementing  or  amending  the  institutional  framework  of  the  agreements 
concerned,  the  Community  position  relating  to  such  decisions  shall  be  established  by  the 
Council on a proposal by the Commission. 

In  view  of  this  obligation,  and  following  a  similar  proposal  on  establishing  a  Community 
position in ICCAT (Council Decision for the establishment of the Community position in the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) of 11th November 
2008,  Doc.  14863/08,  PECH  278  RESTREINT),  the  European  Commission  proposes  the 
present  decision,  which  concerns  the  General  Fisheries  Commission  for  the  Mediterranean 
(GFCM). 

The  purpose  of  the  enclosed  proposal  is  to  establish  the  Community  position  in  the  GFCM 
when it is called upon to adopt recommendations having legal effect for the Community, as 
set out in the attached draft Council Decision. 

In  line  with  the  powers  vested  in  the  Commission  pursuant  to  the  EC  Treaty,  the  European 
Commission  represents  the  interests  of  the  Community  in  Regional  Fisheries  Management 
Organisations. Accordingly, the European Commission negotiates, speaks and votes on behalf 
of  the  Community.  In  the  case  of  the  GFCM  this  competence  covers,  in  particular,  issues 
related to fisheries management, compliance and budget. The Commission also ensures active 
participation of the Community in the meetings of Contracting Parties.  

Member  States  are  also  contracting  parties  to  the  GFCM.  There  may  be  items  of  mixed 
competence  and  items  of  Member  States  competence.  However,  as  past  experience  has 
shown, it is highly advisable and in the Community's interest to reach, as much as possible, a 
common position.  

The  European  Commission  and  Member  States  provide,  at  the  request  of  the  GFCM,  any 
available  statistical,  scientific  and  other  information  that  may  be  needed,  and  see  to  it  that 
scientists attend scientific meetings. 

The Council establishes the Community position for the annual meetings of the GFCM, where 
that body is called upon to take a decision having legal effects, in accordance with article 300 
(2), second subparagraph. 

That  Community  positions  are  based  on  the  latest  available  statistical,  biological  and  other 
scientific  information  transmitted  by  the  scientific  committee  of  the  RFMO,  including 
information and advice on the biology and population dynamics of the fish species concerned, 
the  state  of  the  fish  stocks,  the  effect  of  fishing  on  those  stocks,  and  measures  for  their 
conservation and management. 

In  the  light  of  the  above,  the  Commission  proposes  that  the  Council  adopts  the  enclosed 
mandate  on  behalf  of  the  European  Community  with  regard  to  the  annual  meetings  of  the 

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GFCM  for  decisions  having  legal  effects,  with  the  exception  of  decisions  supplementing  or 
amending the institutional framework of the agreements establishing the GFCM. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

for the establishment of the Community position in the General Fisheries Commission 
for the Mediterranean (GFCM) 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Article 33 of the Treaty, in conjunction with Article 32 thereof provides that one of the 
objectives  of  the  Common  Fisheries  Policy  is  to  assure  the  availability  of  supplies. 
Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and 
sustainable  exploitation  of  fisheries  resources  under  the  Common  Fisheries  Policy 
provides  that  the  Community  shall  apply  the  precautionary  approach  in  taking 
measures  designed  to  protect  and  conserve  living  aquatic  resources,  to  provide  for 
their  sustainable  exploitation  and  to  minimise  the  impact  of  fishing  activities  on 
marine  eco-systems.  It  also  provides  that  the  Community  shall  aim  at  a  progressive 
implementation  of  an  ecosystem  approach  to  fisheries  management,  and  aim  to 
contribute to efficient fishing activities within an economically viable and competitive 
fisheries  and  aquaculture  industry,  providing  a  fair  standard  of  living  for  those  who 
depend on fishing activities and taking into account the interest of consumers. 

The European Community, as well as Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, 
Romania,  Slovenia  and  Spain,  are  Contracting  Parties  to  the  General  Fisheries 
Commission  for  the  Mediterranean  ("GFCM").  The  GFCM  may,  on  the  basis  of 
scientific  evidence,  make  binding  recommendations  designed  to  maintain  the 
populations of stocks of living aquatic resources in the  Mediterranean and the Black 
Sea  at  levels  which  will  permit  the  maximum  sustainable  catch  for  food  and  other 
purposes. 

Pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 300 (2) of the EC Treaty, the position 
of the Community in bodies set up by regional fisheries agreements which are called 
upon  to  adopt  decisions  having  legal  effects,  but  not  modifying  the  institutional 
framework  of  the  agreements  concerned,  must  be  adopted  by  qualified  majority  by 
Council decision, on a proposal from the Commission 

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HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Article 1 

The position to be adopted on behalf of the Community in the General Fisheries Commission 
for  the  Mediterranean  (GFCM),  when  that  Commission  is  called  upon  to  adopt  decisions 
having legal effects, is set out in the Annex to this Decision. 

Article 2 

This  Decision  shall  be  assessed  and,  where  appropriate,  revised  by  the  Council  upon  a 
proposal from the Commission, at the latest for the annual meeting of the General Fisheries 
Commission for the Mediterranean in 2014. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX  

The Community position in the GFCM 

1. 

PRINCIPLES 

In the framework of GFCM, the European Community shall: 

a) 

b) 

c) 

d) 

e) 

f) 

2. 

act  in  accordance  with  the  objectives  pursued  by  the  Community  within  the 
framework  of  the  Common  Fisheries  Policy,  notably  through  the  precautionary 
approach to provide for the sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources in the 
convention  area  of  the  GFCM,  to  promote  the  gradual  implementation  of  an 
ecosystem approach to fisheries management and to minimise the impact of fishing 
activities  on  marine  ecosystem,  as  well  as  through  the  promotion  of  economically 
viable and competitive Community fisheries, providing a fair standard of living for 
those  who  depend  on  fishing  activities  and  taking  account  of  the  interests  of 
consumers; 

ensure  that  GFCM  recommendations  are  in  accordance  with  the  objectives  of  the 
GFCM Convention; 

ensure  that  GFCM  recommendations  are  consistent  with  international  law,  and  in 
particular with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the UN 
Agreement relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks 
and  Highly  Migratory  Fish  Stocks  and  the  Agreement  to  promote  compliance  with 
international conservation and management measures by fishing vessels on the high 
seas; 

promote  consistency  with  the  measures  adopted  by  other  Regional  Fisheries 
Management Organisations; 

seek synergy with the policy that the Community is pursuing as part of its bilateral 
fishery relations with third countries, and coherence with its external relations policy; 

ensure that the Community's international commitments are respected. 

ORIENTATIONS 

The European Commission shall, where appropriate, endeavour to support the adoption of the 
following actions by GFCM: 

a) 

b) 

conservation  and  management  measures  for  fisheries  resources  based  on  best 
scientific  advice  available.  Where  necessary,  specific  measures  for  stocks  which 
suffer from overfishing shall be considered in order to avoid any increase of fishing 
activities; 

long-term  management  plans  for  the  recovery  or  the  sustainable  exploitation  of 
fisheries  resources  to  ensure  progressive  stabilisation  of  fishing  activities  within 

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sustainable limits, without prejudice to emergency measures that may be required to 
tackle unexpected situations; 

measures  to  ensure  that  fishing  effort  is  commensurate  with  fishing  opportunities. 
For fisheries exploiting overfished stocks, fleet overcapacity needs to be addressed, 
while seeking efforts from third countries equivalent to those of the Community; 

technical  measures  such  as  minimum  size,  mesh  and  hook  sizes,  dimension  and 
rigging of fishing gear, spatio-temporal closures and marine protected areas, on the 
basis of best available scientific advice; 

monitoring,  control  and  surveillance  measures,  with  a  view  to  ensuring  proper 
control  of  the  fishing  activities,  of  the  fleet  capacity  and  of  the  implementation  of 
port State measures, to strengthen compliance with GFCM rules and alignment with 
the Community legislation on IUU activities; 

effective trade measures designed to ensure conservation of GFCM stocks; 

institutional modernisation of GFCM. 

c) 

d) 

e) 

f) 

g) 

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