Debate: Management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission  Area of Competence
Date: MONDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2022
Speaker: Helena Dalli
Language: EN

The main purpose of the Commission proposal regarding the IOTC is to implement into EU law the conservation and enforcement measures adopted by this organisation at its annual meeting of May 2021. The transposition of measures by the IOTC is a regular legislative exercise, as the organisation meets every year to update and adopt conservation and management measures related to the stocks it is entrusted to manage. I believe that, overall, the amendments by the co-legislator improve the text and, at the same time, these amendments are in line with the organisation’s conservation and management measures. The adoption of this amended regulation will allow EU vessels to fish in future fishing seasons on the same footing as vessels from other contracting parties of the IOTC, which is a recurrent request from many stakeholders across the EU. In addition, our proposal included delegated powers to the Commission, in particular, concerning the use of non—entangling and biodegradable fish aggregating devices. Such delegated powers are important in order to ensure a simple and fast transposition into EU law of these technical rules that change every year. However, we regret that the co-legislators missed the opportunity to simplify the overall transposition process and that some of the avenues proposed by the Commission to streamline the process were not supported, despite Parliament’s and the Council’s early calls on the Commission to further improve the process. The transposition process lasts, on average, 18 months, from the drafting of the proposal by the Commission to its adoption by the co-legislators. This is far too long and we continue to believe that further simplification is necessary. In this context, I ask for the inclusion of a statement on behalf of the Commission in the minutes of this debate, reflecting our position on this particular point. The Commission will, of course, continue to work together with the European Parliament and the Council on further improvements to the implementation process, and we hope that, in the future, we will be able to agree on a way forward. What’s more, the Commission cannot accept a relaxation of the rules undermining the accuracy of such data, what we call ‘the margins of tolerance’, and some amendments by the co-legislators to the Commission proposal on the revision of fisheries controls are specifically designed for the external EU tuna fleet and would undermine the international credibility of the EU. These amendments are in sharp contrast to the fact that the EU is pushing its partners for more accurate reporting within regional fisheries management organisations like the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission within the framework of international ocean governance and in the context of our zero—tolerance approach towards illegal fishing. We are, however, confident that we will find common ground in the ongoing trilogue negotiations. The European Parliament and the Council have on several occasions underlined the need to further improve the process of implementation of conservation measures adopted by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), notably in terms of their timely adoption. Against this background the Commission regrets that its attempt to streamline the implementation process has not been fully retained by the European Parliament and the Council. The Commission will continue to work together with the European Parliament and the Council on further improvements to the implementation process.