CELEX: 51978PC0643
Language: en
Date: 1978-11-27
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) on the conclusion of the Agreement on Fisheries between the Government of Spain and the European Economic Community (submitted to the Commission to the Council)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (78) 643
Vol. 1978/0249
 ---pagebreak--- Disclaimer
Conformément au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983
concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983,
p. 1), tel que modifié par le règlement (CE, Euratom) n° 1700/2003 du 22 septembre 2003
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
concerning the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Economic
Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as
amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1700/2003 of 22 September 2003 (OJ L 243,
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file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
Februar 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L 43 vom 15.2.1983,
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                             COM(78)643 final
                                             Brussels . 27 November 1978
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                             Proposal for a
                        COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC )
           on the conclusion of the Agreement on Fisheries
           between the Government of Spain and the European
                           Economic Community
                ( submitted to the Commission to the Council )
 C0M(78 ) 643 final
 ---pagebreak---                                 EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.       On 3 November 1976 the Council authorized the Commission to open .
negotiations with Spain concerning a fisheries agreement .
2.       The negotiations ended on 23 September 1978 with the drafting of a
text entitled "Agreement on Fisheries "between the Government of Spain and the
European Economic Community" •.
3.       This Agreement replaces the fisheries agreements concluded previously
between Spain and some Member States * The Spanish Delegation, when it initialled
the negotiated agreement , however , made a unilateral declaration concerning
the attitude Spain intends to adopt , if the framework agreement is terminated,
with regard to the rights provided for in the fisheries agreements which it
concluded previously with Member States .
4.      The primary objective of tha negotiated agreement is to establish the
procedures for fixing the fishing possibilities of each party in the fishing
zones under tha jurisdiction of the other partya These possibilities will be
determined for each year by consultations between the Fartiea and with the aim
of progressively attaining a satisfactory balance .
5.       Sinoe the establishment of fishing zones by the Community Member States,'
the Community has decided on provisional arrangements applicable to Spanish
fishermen fishing iu Coammnity waters® These arrangements have been unsatis­
factory for Spanish fishermen .                           \ •
6.       Following the negotiations on the framework agree&ent , tha Community
consented to enter forthwith into consultations in acoordanoe with the pro­
cedures teid down in the Agreement for fixing tha fishing possibilities for each
party in tha other perty'e waters , for tha period from 1 October to 31 December
1978 .                                                                 V
 ---pagebreak---                                        - 2
7.      Having regard, to the fact that the Community has informed the Spanish
authorities thlit the Council has adopted a decision v/hereby access by fishing
vessels of . a non-member oountry to the Community fishing zone is subjeot to the
conclusion of a framework agreement on fisheries between that country and the
Community , the consultations for the fixing of fishing possibilities for 1979
should take place on the basis of an agreement already in force# The negotiated
agreement should therefore be concluded before 1 January 1979      that it can be
applied in its entirety with effect from that date *
8.      In the light of the foregoing, the Commission
      - reoommends that the Council , at its next meeting, authorize its President
        to designate the persons authorized to sign this Agreement ;
      - proposes that the Counoil , after consulting the European Parliament ,
        approve the outcome of the negotiations by adopting the proposal for a
        Regulation annexed hereto , thereby approving the Agreements
         ' V»
                                     V
                                                              *
 ---pagebreak---                                    PROPOSAL FOR
                       COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC )
              on the conclusion of the Agreement on Fisheries
      between the Government of Spain and the European Economic Community
THE COUNCIL OP THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economio Community,
and in particular Artiole 43 thereof ,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament j
Whereas , by its 'Resolution of' 3 November 1976 on certain external aspects of
the creation of a 200 mile fishing zone in the Community with effeot from
1 January 1977 , the Council agreed, on the one hand, that the fishing by
fishing vessels of non-member countries of fishery resources in the said
zone would be governed by agreements between the Community and the countries
concerned and , on the other hand, that fishing rights for Community fishermen
in the waters of non-member countries must be obtained and preserved by
appropriate Community agreements }
                                                                                        '0
Whereas the Agreement on Fisheries between the Government of Spain and the European
Economic Community , signed on                        , should therefore be concluded ,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                     Artici® 1
          The Agreement on Fisheries between tha Government of Spain and the European
Economic Community is hereby approved on behalf of the Community . .
          The text of the Agreement is annexed to this Regulation .
                                     Article 2
          The President of the Council shall , on behalf of the Community, give
the notification provided for in Article 12 of the Agreement (l ) 0
                                                                      9 ·'/ Ο β ·
(l) The date of entry into force of the Agreement will be published in the
    Offioial Journal of the European Corazamities , through the offices of the
    General Secretariat of tha Council *
                                                       «4 '
 ---pagebreak---                                   Article 3
         This Regulation ahall enter into force on the day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities ,
         This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States#
Bone at Brupselt
                                                       For the Council ,
                                                        The President
 ---pagebreak---                            AGREEMENT ON FISHERIES BETWEEN
                          "THE GOVERNMENT OP SPAIN AND THE
                             EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
       The Government of Spain and the European Economio Community (hereinafter
referred to as the Community);
       Recalling the close relations between the Community and Spain;
       Considering their common desire to ensure the conservation and rational
management of the fish stocks of the waters adjacent to their coasts ;
       Taking into account the work of the Third United Nations Conference on
the Law of the Sea;
       Affirming that the extension "by coastal States of the areas of biological
resources within their jurisdiction , and the exercise within these areas of their
sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and
managing these resources should be in accordance with the principles of inter­
national law ;
       Having regard to the fact that the Community has agreed that the limits
of the fishery zones of its Member States (hereinafter referred to as the fishery
zones of the Community) shall extend up to 200 nautical miles off the coasts of
the North Atlantic , the North Sea, the Skagerrak , the Kattegat and the Baltic
Sea , fishing within these zones being subjeot to the oommon fisheries polioy of
the Community, without prejudioe to a similar measure in respect of the other
fishing zones within the Community 's jurisdiction , and in particular the
Mediterranean ;
       Having regard to the fact that Spain has established with effect from
15 Maroh 1978 an economic zone which extends up to 200 nautical miles off the
Atlantic coast and within which Spain exercises sovereign rights for the purpose
of exploring, exploiting, preserving and managing resources , without prejudice to
a similar measure in respect of the Mediterranean;
    »                                 *     «
       Desirous of establishing the principles and rules whioh will govern future
mutual relations in the fisheries sphere ;
                                                              >
                                                                           • •/• • •
 ---pagebreak--- Have agrasd as follows s
                                        Art î nie 1
1.      Ths purpose of this Agreement is to ent.-blish the principles and rules
which will govern # in all r3sp*3cto,the fitihing activities of vessels of* either
Party within the fishing zones under the jurisdiction of the other Party®
2a      However , this Agreement shall not affect ths reciprocal fieking arran­
gements of fishermen in the Bidassoa waters and in the Bay of f&guer as defined
by the Agreement of 14 July 1959 between Spain arid Prance ,
                                        Article 2
        Each Party shall grant access to the fighing zone under its jurisdiction
to the fishing vessels of the other party under the conditions laid down "by
the following Artioles ,
                                        Article 3
1.      Each Party shall determine each year , for the fishing zone under its
jurisdiction , subject to adjustments necessitated by unforeseen circumstances ,
and on the basis of the need for rational management of the biological
resources *
   ( a) the total allowable catch for individual stocks or complexes of stocks ,
        taking into account the most reliable scientific information available
        to it , the interdependance of stocks , the work of appropriate interna­
        tional organizations and other relevant factors ;
   (b ) after appropriate reciprocal consultations , the catch allotted to the
        fishing vessels of the other Party and the zones in which these catches
        may be made .   The two Parties shall have as their objective the attain­
        ment of a satisfactory balance between their respective fishing possi­
        bilities in the fishing zones under the jurisdiction of the other Party ,
 ---pagebreak---                                         -   3  -
          In determining theoe possibilities , each Party shall take into account t
    ( i ) the advantage of preserving the traditional characteristics of fishery
    (D
          activities in the frontier ooastal areas ;
  ( ii ) the need to minimize the difficulties encountered by the Party whose
          fishing possibilities may be reduced in the course of achieving the
          above-mentioned balanoe ;
( iii ) all other relevant factors .
2.        Each Party shall be able to take any other measures to ensure the con­
servation and rational management of resources in the fishing zone under its
jurisdiction.      Such measure^ when taken following the annual fixing of the
other party 's fishing possibilities , should not be such as to compromise the
effeotiv^ use of these possibilities .
           V#
                                        Article1 41
                                    ι
          Eaoh Party may require that in the fishing zone under its jurisdiction
fiBhing by vessels of the other Party shall be subject to licence .
          The competent authority of each Party shall communicate to the other
Party the name , registration number and other relevant particulars of vessels
requesting authorization to fish in the fishing zone of the other Party .
                                          ν
          This provision shall also apply to any vessel intended to aid or assist
a fishing vessel in carrying out tasks directly related to the latter 's
fishing activity.      The second Party shall issue licences commensurate with
the possibilities for fishing granted under the first sub-paragraph of
Article 3 ( l)(b ).                                                    t
                                        Article 5
          Pishing vessels of one Party shall , when fishing within the fishing zone
under the jurisdiction of the other Party, comply with the conservation measures ,
supervisory measures and other provisions governing fishing activities in that
zone . Appropriate advance notice shall be given cf any new measures , conditions
or provisions .
                                                                         • •/•• •
 ---pagebreak---                                       -   4
                                      Art i e 1 e 6
       Each Party shall "take all necessary measures to ensure that its fishing
vessels comply with the provisions of this Agreement and with other related
measures®
                                      Article 7
       Within the fishing zone under its jurisdiction each Party may , m con­
formity with international law , take such measures as may be necessary to ensure
that vessels of the other comply with the provisions of this Agreement#
                                      Article 8
       The Parties undertake to cooperate to ensure the proper management and
conservation of the biological resources of the sea, and to facilitate the
necessary scientific research in this respect , in particular with regard
to :
  ( a) fish stocks living within the fishing zones under the jurisdiction
       of both the Parties , with a view to achieving , as far as practicable ,
       harmonization pf measures to regulate the fishing of such stocks ?
  (b ) fish stocks of common interest living within the fishing zones under
       the jurisdiction of both Parties and in the areas beyond and adjacent
       to those zones *
                                     Article 9
       The Parties agree to consult on questions relating to the implementation
and proper functioning of this Agreement or , in the evGnt of a dispute , on
questions concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement •
                                                                      • β/ · β ·
 ---pagebreak---                                       Article 10
      No provision of this Agreement shall affect or prejudice the position of
either Party with respect to questions relating to the Law of the Sea*
                                      Article 11
                                                                   ι
       This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which
the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community is applied , under the
conditions laid down in that Treaty, and, on the other hand, to the territory
of Spain*
                                      Article 12
       This Agreement shall enter into force on the date on which the Parties
notify each other of the completion of the procedures necessary for the pur­
pose . Pending its entry into force , the Agreement shall apply provisionally
as from the date of signature *
       This Agreement shall remain in force for an initial period of five years
after its entry into force * In the event of the Agreement not "being terminated
by either Party through notice of termination given at least six months before
the expiry of that period, it shall remain in force for additional periods of
five years , provided that notice of termination has not been given at least
six months before the expiry of any such period *
                                      Article 13
      The Parties agree to examine this Agreement on the conclusion of the
negotiations for a Multilateral Treaty, which are being conducted within the
framework of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea*
                               «
                                  ι ·
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized for this purpose ,
have signed this Agreement *
This Agreement is drafted in duplicate in the Danish, Butch, English, Frenoh ,
German, Italian and Spanish languages , each of these texts being authentic *
For the Gounoil of the European Communities         For the Government of Spain
 ---pagebreak---                 STATEMENT EY THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT
With respect to Article 1 , the Spanish Delegation recognizes that the
provisions of the Agreement replace the provisions of the agreements
concerning fishery relations to which the Member States of the European
Eoonomic Community and Spain are parties .
In the event of termination of the Agreement , Spain reserves the right
to enforce , with regard to the Community , the provisions of the fishery
agreements which formerly governed fishery relations with the Member
States of the Community ,