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Committee on Fisheries
PROVISIONAL 2002/2024(INI)
17 September 2002
DRAFT REPORT
on fisheries in international waters in the context of external action under the common fisheries policy (2002/2024(INI))
Committee on Fisheries
Rapporteur: Rosa Miguélez Ramos
PR\476031EN.doc PE 309.238
EN EN PE 309.238 2/13 PR\476031EN.doc
EN CONTENTS
Page
PROCEDURAL PAGE...... 4
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION...... 5
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT...... 9
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EN PROCEDURAL PAGE
At the sitting of 14 March 2002 the President of Parliament announced that the Committee on Fisheries had been authorised to draw up an own-initiative report, pursuant to Rule 163 of the Rules of Procedure, on fisheries in international waters in the context of external action under the common fisheries policy .
The Committee on Fisheries had appointed Rosa Miguélez Ramos rapporteur at its meeting of 19 December 2001.
It considered the draft report at its meetings of 26 March 2002, 20 June 2002 and ….
At the latter/last meeting it adopted the motion for a resolution by ... votes to ..., with ... abstention(s)/unanimously.
The following were present for the vote: ... chairman/acting chairman; ... and ..., vice- chairman/vice-chairmen; ..., rapporteur; ..., ... (for ...), ... (for ... pursuant to Rule 153(2)), ... and ... .
The report was tabled on ....
The deadline for tabling amendments will be indicated in the draft agenda for the relevant part-session.
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EN MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
European Parliament resolution on fisheries in international waters in the context of external action under the common fisheries policy (2002/2024(INI))
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its resolution of 15 May 1997 on international fisheries agreements1,
– having regard to the Council conclusions of 30 October 1997 on policy regarding fisheries agreements with third countries,
– having regard to its resolution of 15 November 2000 on Community participation in Regional Fisheries Organisations,
– having regard to Special Report No 3/2001 on the Commission's management of international fisheries agreements2 and to the August 1999 study by IFREMER assessing the international fisheries agreements entered into by the European Community,
– having regard to its resolution of 17 January 2002 on the Green Paper on the future of the CFP,
– having regard to the Commission communication on the reform of the CFP (Guide),
– having regard to Article 37 of the EC Treaty,
– having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries (A5-xxxx/02),
A. having regard to the evolution of the international law of the sea in recent years and the positions expressed in the Convention on the Law of the Sea to the effect that the fisheries sector requires a global approach, establishing the principles of cooperation between states, indicating that states should allow other countries' fleets to fish their excess stocks, and supporting the creation of the Regional Fisheries Organisations (RFOs),
B. whereas the objective of the external dimension of the CFP is to maintain the activity of the Community fleet in non-Community fishing grounds; whereas only rational and sustainable resource management by the international community can ensure the continuation of fishing worldwide,
C. having regard to the trend towards an ever more globalised world in which access conditions for markets and resources must be based on criteria of reciprocity and balance, and to the need to maintain and consolidate the external dimension of the CFP so as to ensure that the EU can affirm its full weight and influence in an economic sector whose operations are worldwide,
1 Not yet published in the OJ / OJ C … 2 OJ C 210, 27.7.2001, p. 1
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EN D. having regard to the serious social and economic problems affecting areas dependent on this fleet, which make it essential to maintain its activity, reinforcing the Community's presence in both existing and future RFOs, renewing the international agreements and preserving structural aids,
E. having regard to the increasing importance of the RFOs as multilateral resource management bodies which offer a suitable forum for resolving differences between parties and practising responsible management, while also combating illegal fishing and fishing under flags of convenience; having regard to the need for coordination between the Commission, Member States, the RFOs and third countries with a view to creating a monitoring policy and a coherent system of sanctions at world level, thus boosting the fight against illegal fishing,
F. having regard to the EC's exclusive competences regarding the external dimension of the CFP, insofar as the Commission is responsible for representing the Community's interests and ensuring implementation of the commitments made, as well as for the guidance, coordination and preparation of the Community's positions in international cooperation forums,
G. having regard to the responsibility of the two branches of the budgetary authority, the Council and Parliament, to ensure that the Commission has sufficient human and financial resources to carry out the tasks and duties incumbent on it in the context of the external dimension of the CFP,
1. Recognises the importance of the activity of the Community's seagoing and ocean-going fleet fishing in non-Community waters for meeting EU consumers' food needs and for the preservation of the industrial fabric in the EU's maritime regions, as well as its positive impact on economic and social cohesion in those mostly less-favoured or peripheral regions;
2. Regrets the lack of a debate to date on the external dimension of the CFP, with the Community's actions as regards participation in RFOs and signing international agreements being more the reflection of an inert and unstructured serendipity than of a strategy for the defence of its interests and those of its fisheries sector;
3. Calls, therefore, for the development of a CFP which is linked to the Union's external policy and, in liaison with the CFSP and with trade policy, is able to support, at the level of international forums, the principles of responsible fishing and the interests of our fleet;
4. Insists that, given the Community's exclusive competences as regards the external dimension of the CFP, that it is the Commission that must be responsible for proper representation, effective negotiation, coordination, participation in scientific meetings and forums, and relations with RFOs, including fisheries monitoring; calls on the Commission, accordingly, when it adopts its communication on the external dimension of the CFP, to make a stronger commitment to the Community fleet fishing in non- Community waters, given that fisheries must not become an exception to the principle of enhancing the Community's presence at world level;
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EN 5. Calls for action to fill the existing gaps in human and material resources in the Commission's services and for the reorganisation of the DG Fisheries establishment plan; should this not be sufficient, the Commission should allocate the necessary funding in the preliminary draft budget;
6. Calls on the Council and Commission to seek participation in those RFOs in which the Community sector has a legitimate interest but from which the Community is nonetheless currently excluded, in order to promote the principles of responsible fishing and defend the Community's fishing interests; reminds the Council and Commission that Parliament has already called on them to raise, in the appropriate forums, the question of readjusting the EU's voting weight in the RFOs in line with the number of participant countries;
7. Recognises that it is in the Community's interest to pursue an active policy to ensure greater compliance with the international law developed by the UN in the interests of sustainable fishing, the main instruments here being the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 and the 'New York Agreement' of 4 August 1995 on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks;
8. Calls for the ratification of the above-mentioned Agreement to be accompanied by that of the interpretive notes for its correct implementation, as well as the FAO's Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing; urges the Community to implement the action plans recently adopted by the FAO on sharks, seabirds, the organisation of fishing capacity and the elimination of illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing; urges those Member States which have not yet ratified the UN Agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks to do so forthwith;
9. Calls on the Council and the Community to engage in negotiations with ACP countries, countries with which the Community has signed agreements and countries which are members of RFOs alongside the Union, with a view to further developing trade relations which will ensure both access for their products to the EU market and the presence of the EU fleet in non-Community fishing grounds, on the basis of the principle of responsible fishing;
10. Agrees with the Council and Commission on the need to fight illegal fishing by vessels flying flags of convenience or no flag at all, on the basis of severe penalties for countries sheltering such vessels and support for the initiatives of certain international organisations in combating the phenomenon: calls for much more stringent monitoring and punishment;
11. Calls on the Commission to submit initiatives within the various RFOs with a view to standardising offences and penalties, as well as closer coordination in monitoring fishing activity, with the aim of preventing the appearance on the Community market of the catches of vessels which have not respected the rules on stock conservation and rational stock management;
12. Calls on the Commission to reduce the time thresholds for the incorporation into Community law of the agreements adopted by the RFOs, while improving its own procedures, preparing the Community's positions in suitable fashion and ensuring prior consultation of the sector; stresses the need for Parliament to be consulted regularly on the
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EN issues debated by the RFOs and the negotiation of international agreements, in the interests of effective participation in the decision-making process;
13. Calls on the EU to encourage the creation of joint ventures with third countries, since these are an effective instrument for developing local fisheries sectors via transfers of know-how and technology, job creation, training and research, while also contributing to supplying the Community market and to the preservation of the fleet; calls, therefore, for the integration of such measures into the principle of Community preference;
14. Insists on the need to guarantee the fundamental labour rights of all fishermen (fair pay, safety, proper rest periods, union representation, welfare benefits and collective negotiation of labour contracts); calls on the Commission, accordingly, to promote greater social dialogue with a view to the creation of better-quality jobs and the drawing-up of a Statute for Fishermen which would take account of the specific characteristics of their occupation;
15. Calls for further scientific research to determine the real situation of each species and current trends affecting it, with the participation of the sector, the aim being to ensure the rational management of the fishing grounds in which the Community fleet operates;
16.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.
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EN EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
The Community's seagoing and ocean-going fleet
The activity of the Community fleet in non-Community waters has the purposes of supplying the Community market, which has a deficit in fisheries products, and preserving activity in fisheries-dependent areas, which have traditionally tended to be less-favoured areas lacking in economic alternatives. The Community's support for this activity is based on the Council resolution of 3 November 1976, and also covers other requirements deriving from such fundamental EU priorities as economic and social cohesion and the preservation of the environment.
The EU possesses a fleet (longliners, tuna vessels and trawlers) fishing outside Community waters which is considered the most advanced in the world, playing a pioneering role in the search for new fishing grounds and the exploitation of new species. This fleet is backed up by the technical know-how and the processing and marketing capacities which are necessary to supply a market of 350 m consumers.
The EU's fishermen, by contrast with those of other competing fleets at world level, are not pirates: they do not practise illegal fishing, nor do they destroy local fisheries or operate social dumping practices. They operate under the close control of the Union, exercised through its Member States (satellite monitoring, fishing logs, etc), and have also to abide by the provisions of the fisheries agreements, the national rules of the coastal states, and the relevant RFO rules.
The agreements signed by the EU allow for fishing on the high seas or in other countries' EEZs by some 3000 vessels (Community - north: 2100; south: 900)1, accounting for 40 650 jobs, of which 83% correspond to the southern agreements. The total catch stands at 2.7 m tonnes per annum, or 40% of the Community grand total, to an estimated value of EUR 614 bn. Its value is multiplied by the processing industry and by economic activity in related sectors (e.g. shipbuilding and naval machinery).
The financial cost of the external dimension of the CFP - EUR 276.1 m in 2000 - represents 28.5% of its total budget. The profitability of intervening in support of this fleet has been amply proven: it is estimated that each euro from public funds generates another three in business terms2, and that the cost of non-intervention would be EUR 1.6 m. It is therefore hardly surprising if the Community's fishermen are astonished and indignant when they see this pillar of the CFP being regularly called in question and subjected to discussion.
The RFOs
The seagoing and ocean-going fleet fishing in non-Community grounds does so both on the high seas and in adjacent areas falling within EEZ boundaries. The RFOs regulate fishing grounds located both on the open seas and within the 200-mile limit: straddling and highly
1 European Commission, 'La pêche lointaine européenne' 2 IFREMER study: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/doc_et_publ/liste_publi/studies/rsfr.pdf
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EN migratory fish species do not, after all, recognise frontiers. The main functions of the RFOs are to preserve the stocks falling under their competence and to regulate their rational exploitation. They also play an arbitration role, contributing to the prevention of conflicts of interests between states.
The first RFOs were created in the early twentieth century. In recent years, they have acquired a higher profile in the context of the international law of the sea. It is recognised by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 and the New York Agreement of 4 August 1995 that RFOs are the best means of guaranteeing fish resource management at world level. They function on the basis of the shared responsibility of the contracting parties.
The EU possesses the potential - economic, legal, legislative and political - to play a vanguard role in promoting the principles of responsible fishing in the RFOs and the other international organisations which determine the principles governing fishing at world level (the UN, the FAO, CITES, etc), but the Community's fisheries interests in world terms do not receive adequate support. The Commission's failure to allocate sufficient resources3, the lack of a strategic policy, and the fact that the external dimension of the CFP falls outside the sphere of the CFSP and the EU's international trade relations all conspire to place the Community fisheries sector in a position where it has - unlike its rivals - to compete without the support of the economic and commercial power to which it belongs.
Parliament has repeatedly criticised this state of affairs, insisting that the Commission, and specifically its DG Fisheries, must take on sufficient staff resources to enable it to use its powers correctly. Should the redeployment of the services' human and material resources still prove insufficient, further resources should be asked for in the preliminary draft budget. Any such request should be supported by Parliament in its capacity as one of the branches of the budgetary authority.
The Commission, in its communication COM(2000) 724, states that the objective must be to protect the sustainability of stocks with equal vigour in both Community and non-Community waters4. This will only be possible if visible leadership is exercised with regard to external waters, in a manner consistent with the Union's political weight in the world. A unilateral conservation policy which is not shared by the rest of the international community will simply lead to the space freed by the Community fleet being occupied at once by other fleets which are not subject to the CFP's guarantees and requirements5.
The Community's seagoing fleet was so small in the early 1980s that the original CFP scarcely took account of it at all: attention was concentrated entirely on regulating the fleets of
3 Particularly illuminating here is the question of the EU's participation in the preparatory forum (MHLC, PreCon) of the Western and Central Pacific Tuna Commission (WCPTC). Since 1989, the Community has allocated millions of euros to financing research programmes, especially for the tuna fishery, carried out by the SPC, not to mention its funding of the many other cooperation programmes with south Pacific countries which are organised by the Forum Fisheries Office, whose seat was built with EC funds. The 16 FFA member countries concerned are also those which have, since 1997, opposed the EC's right to participate pursuant to the New York Agreement in the negotiation of the future Convention for the central and western Pacific and in the preparatory phase of creation of the future Commission. 4 Communication, 'Fisheries and Poverty Reduction' 5 The Community has been constantly reducing the size of its fleet for two decades; over the same period, China has quadrupled its own fleet, which is now 250 000 vessels strong.
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EN a core of EC Member States fishing almost exclusively within their EEZs. With Community enlargement, attention was for the first time focused on the need to adapt to new realities; however, the lack of a global strategy meant that the exercise did not go beyond a set of piecemeal modifications, in many cases purely restrictive in nature.
The forthcoming Commission communication on the international dimension of the CFP in the context of its reform should lay the bases for a global examination of the problems and needs of this fleet. This should be centred on two questions: how to achieve a more coherent and fuller participation in the bodies which govern international waters, in the context of the defence of the Community's legitimate interests; and how secure a higher profile for the international dimension of the CFP within the Union's external policy.
Inspection, monitoring and action against illegal fishing
The sea is the neglected half of our planet. However, up to the present no-one has convincingly shown that the sustainable management of ocean fisheries is anything but possible. What is needed is an approach focused on ecosystems and involving the reinforcement not only of scientific research but also of monitoring and surveillance measures; accessory catches must be reduced, and there must be a strong commitment to action against illegal fishing. At the same time, a legal framework must be developed for protected areas. We also need to develop a broader perspective on the causes of stock shrinkage, which include not only fisheries activity but also the major climate changes which are occurring at global level, as well as the large-scale use of substances such as fertilisers and pesticides which end up being dumped at sea.
Fisheries monitoring in international waters requires a global approach. Responsible fishing can only be achieved if the Community is present in all the international forums in a fashion permitting it to undertake permanent cooperation with third countries with a view to ensuring stock conservation, further progress in research and the stepping-up of the fight against illegal fishing worldwide.
Vigilance in the context of the RFOs is primarily a matter of the Member States, on the basis of their sovereign rights as flag states. They must provide the necessary human, financial and material resources to ensure that the Community can fulfil its international obligations. The Commission's role here is to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the measures, and to negotiate within the relevant organisations.
On a number of occasions, Parliament has called for the creation of an inspection and monitoring body of a specifically Community nature, which would operate in Community waters and also on the high seas and would be funded from the Community budget. It is also necessary to harmonise the penalties applying in international waters, as monitoring without penalties is counterproductive.
The Commission must call on the other fishing powers to take action against illegal fishing, given its highly damaging effect on regulated fishing. Illegal fishing places stocks at risk, pushes prices down, and undermines the economic viability of Community undertakings which operate in compliance with CFP rules.
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EN In addition to monitoring fishing grounds, the Community and the Member should step up the inspection of catches landed in port and of the entire marketing process. The EU, as one of the world's largest fisheries products markets, is obliged to ensure that all products entering it comply with the RFOs' resolutions. The principles of responsible fishing require responsible market practices based on compliance with the protection measures adopted by those organisations.
International agreements and joint ventures
In the context of the reform of the CFP, we are awaiting the Commission's communication on its external dimension. It would be ill-advised to adopt measures such as abolishing structural aid or aid for breaking up vessels before having defined the Community's future position with regard to this fleet.
The international agreements define the existence of the seagoing and ocean-going fleet. The defence of its interests requires the renewal of the existing agreements and the signing of further agreements: the benefits of such agreements have been amply demonstrated, both by experience and by independent studies. A growing proportion of their budget - in the case of some recent agreements, over half - is invested in non-fisheries measures aimed at the local industry.
The interests of the Community fishery and those of the developing countries are, in this field, complementary. The seagoing and ocean-going fishery is a complex phenomenon which requires a degree of capitalisation and technical know-how which many third countries do not possess. The presence of Community undertakings, whether under international agreements or in the form of joint ventures, is thus essential if activity is to be maintained. This is a principle which no-one would question in such sectors as oil, gas or mineral exploitation - all activities involving EU enterprises in third countries.
The activities of the EU fleet in LDCs with which fisheries agreements exist are contributing, in a natural fashion, to those countries' development6. Their existence has stimulated European investment and employment, on a harmonious and progressive basis. Other cooperation elements which are available to the LDCs, such as the special customs regimes for fisheries products applying under the ACP and GSP agreements, constitute a specific form of fisheries cooperation whose significance is generally overlooked.
However, not all LDCs offer the same conditions for secure investment, and not all governments are committed to national development7. Fisheries agreements are a legal framework which provides institutional protection for the long-term activities of Community vessel owners in non-Community waters. The promotion of sectoral policy, the
6 Assessment of the fisheries agreements concluded by the European Community. IFREMER, CEMARE, CEP, September 1999. European Commission (APC01). 7 LDCs often have more urgent priorities than fisheries: intervention in this connection may lead to cases similar to that of the renewal of the agreement with Angola, which was postponed by four months because the EC insisted on knowing what Angola had spent its funds from the agreement on. Similarly, there is a lack of coherence in respect of many countries which have signed fisheries agreements with the EU that contain a specific budget heading for the participation of the country concerned in RFOs in which they never show their faces.
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EN encouragement of research for responsible fishing and the development of sustainable fishing are objectives which are more likely to be achieved under a cooperation agreement and with financing from development funds: they have little to do with the commercial objectives of the vessel owners or other initial criteria.
Concerning the differences referred to in the Green Paper between the northern and southern agreements, the idea is not to review the possibility of financial contributions by vessel owners operating under the northern agreements; it is, rather, to put an end to the notion that southern owners are unfairly enjoying subsidies thanks to the fisheries agreements - when in fact they are the ones who have to pay - while their northern counterparts do not receive the same criticisms when the continued existence of the northern agreements is necessary for the stability of their activity.
Fishing involves considerable business risks, but these risks can reasonably be taken thanks to the demand for fisheries products which exists on the European market. The Community must be receptive to the positions of those LDCs which have chosen the path of responsible fishing, enabling EU enterprises to invest under joint-venture arrangements. These arrangements benefit both the Community (fleet reduction; contribution to supplying the Community market) and the third country (development cooperation, job creation). Structural aid should be continued, and those countries' products should have preferential access to the Community market.
Social aspects
The European social model presupposes that all workers' labour rights must be respected. There is no question of watering down this principle, still less so in a sector like the extractive fishery, where workers have to accept particularly arduous and dangerous conditions. Nonetheless, a number of circumstances - low levels of trade union membership, the difficulty of inspecting geographically remote work locations, and the presence of non-Community workers on board vessels from Member States and of Community workers on board vessels from third countries or belonging to joint ventures - make it difficult to ensure that the sea fishery's workers' labour rights are respected in practice.
The Community must take action - e.g. incorporating social clauses in the international agreements, promoting agreements in international forums, or encouraging social dialogue with the social and economic partners concerned, with a view to ensuring that the protection of workers' rights is extended to fishermen.
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EN New .eu Domain
Changed Web and E-Mail Addresses The introduction of the .eu domain also required the web and e-mail addresses of the European institutions to be adapted. Below please find a list of addresses found in the document at hand which have been changed after the document was created. The list shows the old and new address, a reference to the page where the address was found and the type of address: http: and https: for web addresses, mailto: for e-mail addresses etc.
Page: 9 Old: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/doc_et_publ/liste_publi/studies/rsfr.pdf Type: http: New: http://europa.eu/comm/fisheries/doc_et_publ/liste_publi/studies/rsfr.pdf
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