Brussels, 13/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - At the conference on the external dimension of the common fisheries policy (CFP), organised by the European Commission on Friday 13 May and attended by ministers from member states and a number of third countries, Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said that, in future, fisheries agreements with third countries had to be kept. “But we also want to find ways to improve their quality and increase their added value. We modify them to make them fit for today's environmental challenges and for the international objectives we have subscribed to”, she added.
A problem identified in conservation is that “we cannot always be sure to be fishing exclusively 'surplus' resources”, she said. “Surplus” refers to “the fish that is there to be fished on top of what has been fished locally”. To determine surplus resources, two things have to be known: - the state of the stock; - whether others are drawing from that stock. In short, for the Commission, what is needed is reliable scientific advice and precise information on the total pressure on the fish stocks caused by all fleets - EU and non-EU.
On governance, the commissioner laid stress on the rules being followed (the problem of reflagging vessels has to be tackled) and respect for human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles.
Making vessel owners pay more. Relative to the benefits obtained, the level of contribution from the industry is relatively low, compared with the contribution of the EU budget. “We want to redress this imbalance, adopting a more modern and market-oriented approach for the payment of access rights”, Damanaki stated.
Financial support. The Commission is considering several options to make the system more effective, improve financial management and maximise the benefit for the fishing sector. Damanaki said that support has to be tailored to actual needs and the absorption capacity of the third countries, perhaps linking each sum granted to achieving specific objectives. This, she said, is one of the innovations that will be brought in by the reform: payments should be linked to results. On the other hand, the EU has to consider the synergies between the fisheries support and all other forms of assistance that third countries may receive from the EU, under development policies, for instance. “It would probably be a good idea to channel all these funds towards measurable objectives and improve the mechanism for monitoring and delivery.”
Franco-Spanish statement on retaining agreements with third countries. On the sidelines of the conference on the external dimension of the CFP, France and Spain signed a statement on the future of fisheries partnership agreements and the role of the European Union in regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs). France and Spain are calling for the external dimension of the CFP to be strengthened in the reform. Portugal has also signed the statement.
Spain and France argue that the external dimension of the common fisheries policy should “ensure the future of the European fleet and take account of its interests”. Somewhat swimming against the tide of often alarmist comment, the two countries state that fisheries agreements “in many cases provide a guarantee that the sustainability of the marine resources will be maintained”. They note, too, that there is a “commercial component” in fisheries agreements which cannot be ignored, “resulting from the free choice of the third countries to grant access to their marine resources in exchange for financial compensation or development aid”.
France and Spain say it is “crucial to keep in place the existing fisheries agreements and the possibility of extending fishing opportunities in the light of assessment of the stocks by the relevant scientific bodies at regional level”. Furthermore, they: - support the incorporation into partnership agreements of reference to the fundamental aspects of human rights, democratic principles and the primacy of law; - call for the mechanism for the use of the financial aid granted under the agreements to be toughened; - highlight the importance of the EU's ensuring tangible results from the financial aid for the economies and people of the third countries, particularly in the fisheries sector, and making sure that civil society is aware of the aid; - back stronger agreements which, from a regional point of view, could enhance transparency in the use of funds and, at the same time, facilitate joint initiatives in regional fisheries organisations; - recommend that the full range of tools to improve the monitoring, supervision and control of the fishing activities of European vessels be built into fisheries agreements.
The Spanish and French governments believe that the EU should take more of a leading role in RFMOs and multilateral organisations. They say that they are confident that, ultimately, it is the interests of the member states, including the interests of the fleets of the outermost regions, which fish in international waters which will be taken into account by the EU in defining its position and proposals within the RFMOs. (L.C./transl.rt)