Proposal for COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No …/.. on the allocation of fishing opportunities under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
Date: 2010-12-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: São Tomé and Príncipe, cooperation agreement, economic development, fishery management, fishing agreement, fishing area, fishing industry, fishing rights, ratification of an agreement

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 13.12.2010 
COM(2010) 737 final 

2010/0357 (NLE) 

Proposal for 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No …/.. 

on the allocation of fishing opportunities under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement 
between the European Community and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and 
Príncipe 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

On the basis of a mandate from the Council1, the European Commission has negotiated with 
the  Democratic  Republic  of  São  Tomé  and  Príncipe  to  renew  the  Protocol  to  the  Fisheries 
Partnership  Agreement  between  the  European  Union  and  the  Democratic  Republic  of  São 
Tomé  and  Príncipe,  which  dates  from  23  July  20072  and  expired  on  31  May  2010.  On 
conclusion  of  these  negotiations,  a  new  Protocol  was  initialled  on  15  July  2010  covering  a 
period of three years from the time of the adoption of the Council Decision on the signing, on 
behalf of the Union, and provisional application of the said Protocol. 

The attached proposal for a Regulation relates to the allocation of fishing opportunities among 
the Member States concerned, by category of vessel, as indicated in the Protocol. 

The Commission is asked to adopt this proposal and transmit it to the Council. 

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND 
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

The Commission defined the fishing opportunities offered to European Union vessels in the 
waters of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe partly on the basis of the results 
of an ex-post evaluation carried out by external experts. Specific requests made by Member 
States during the negotiations were also taken into account. 

The  overall  objective  is  to  continue  the  cooperation  between  the  European  Union  and  the 
Democratic  Republic  of  São  Tomé  and  Príncipe,  thereby  strengthening  a  partnership 
framework  in  the  fisheries  sector  that  has  existed  since  2006,  in  order,  in  particular,  to 
contribute  to  developing  a  sustainable  fisheries  policy  and  sound  exploitation  of  fishery 
resources in the São Toméan fishing zone, in the interests of both Parties. 

The  new  Protocol  is  in  keeping  with  the  two  Parties’  concern  to  strengthen  partnership  and 
cooperation in the fisheries sector using all the financial instruments available. To this end, it 
should  be  reiterated  that  there  is  a  need  to  create  a  framework  which  is  favourable  to  the 
development  of  investment  in  this  sector  and  optimising  the  production  of  small-scale 
fisheries. 

The  new  Protocol  to  the  Partnership  Agreement  was  transmitted  to  the  Council  for  it  to 
approve the signing and provisional application thereof. It was also transmitted to the Council 
and to the Parliament with a view to its conclusion. 

1 
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Decision No 8627/10 of 21 April 2010. 
OJ L 205, 7.8.2007, p. 59. 

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3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

This  procedure  relating  to  the  Council  Regulation  on  the  allocation  of  fishing  opportunities 
under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Democratic 
Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is initiated in parallel with the procedures relating to:  

- the Council Decision with the consent of the European Parliament on the conclusion of the 
new Protocol itself, and  

- the Council Decision on the signing of the Protocol and its provisional application. 

With  regard  to  the  fishing  opportunities,  28  tuna  seiners  and  12  surface  longliners  will  be 
authorised  to  fish  under  the  new  Protocol.  In  accordance  with  the  Treaty,  the  method  for 
allocating the fishing opportunities among the Member States should be defined. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 

The overall financial contribution under the Protocol of EUR 2 047 500 over the whole period 
is based on:  

(a)  an  annual  reference  tonnage  set  at  7 000  tonnes  for  40  vessels,  corresponding  to 
EUR 455 000 per year, and  

(b) support for the development of the sectoral fisheries policy of the Democratic Republic of 
São  Tomé  and  Príncipe,  amounting  to  EUR 227 500  per  year.  This  support  meets  the 
objectives of the national fisheries policy. 

5. 

OPTIONAL ELEMENTS 

As indicated, this proposal for a Regulation relates to fishing opportunities for 40 European 
vessels.  Nevertheless,  on  the  basis  of  the  annual  assessments  of  the  state  of  stocks,  these 
fishing  opportunities  could  be  revised  upwards  or  downwards,  which  would  lead  to  a 
corresponding review of the financial contribution.  

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2010/0357 (NLE) 

Proposal for 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No …/.. 

on the allocation of fishing opportunities under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement 
between the European Community and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and 
Príncipe 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 43(3) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission3, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

The  European  Union  and  the  Democratic  Republic  of  São  Tomé  and  Príncipe  have 
negotiated and initialled, on 15 July 2010, a new Protocol to the Fisheries Partnership 
Agreement providing European Union vessels with fishing opportunities in the waters 
over  which  the  Democratic  Republic  of  São  Tomé  and  Príncipe  has  sovereignty  or 
jurisdiction in respect of fisheries. 

On [...], the Council adopted decision XXX/2010/EU4 on the signing and provisional 
application of the new Protocol. 

The method for allocating the fishing opportunities among the Member States should 
be  defined,  both  for  the  period  of  provisional  application  and  for  the  duration  of  the 
Protocol. 

In order to ensure that the fishing opportunities available to the European Union under 
the  Protocol  are  used  in  full,  the  Commission  should  be  empowered  to  temporarily 
reallocate  fishing  opportunities  not  used  by  one  Member  State  to  another  Member 
State, without affecting the allocation or exchange of fishing opportunities among the 
Member States under the Protocol. 

(5) 

This Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union, 

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OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  

Article 1 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

The  fishing  opportunities  set  out  in  the  Protocol  to  the  Fisheries  Partnership 
Agreement between the European Union and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé 
and  Príncipe,  as  provided  for  in  Decision  XXX/2010/EU  on  the  signing  and 
provisional  application  of  the  Protocol  to  the  Fisheries  Partnership  Agreement 
between  the  European  Union  and  the  Democratic  Republic  of  São  Tomé  and 
Príncipe, shall be allocated among the Member States as follows: 

(a) 

tuna seiners: 

Spain 

France 

(b) 

surface longliners: 

France 

Portugal 

15  vessels

13  vessels

 9 vessels

3 vessels

Without  prejudice  to  the  provisions  of  the  Agreement  and  the  Protocol,  Council 
Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008 of 29 September 2008 concerning authorisations for 
fishing  activities  of  Community  fishing  vessels  outside  Community  waters  and  the 
access of third country vessels to Community waters5 shall apply. 

If  applications  for  fishing  authorisations  from  the  Member  States  referred  to  in 
paragraph 1  do  not  cover  all  the  fishing  opportunities  set  by  the  Protocol,  the 
Commission  may  consider  applications  for  fishing  authorisations  from  any  other 
Member State in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008. 

If  it  appears  that  the  fishing  opportunities  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  are  not  being 
fully  used,  the  Commission  shall  inform  the  Member  States  concerned  and  request 
them to confirm that they are not making use of those fishing opportunities. Absence 
of a reply within 10 days shall be considered as confirmation that the vessels of the 
Member State concerned are not making full use of their fishing opportunities during 
the  period  in  question.  After  confirmation  by  the  Member  State  concerned,  the 
unused fishing opportunities shall be made available to the Member States. 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  that  of  its  publication  in  the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

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OJ L 286, 29.10.2008, p. 33. 

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This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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