Brussels, 13/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - If, on Thursday 15 December, the European Parliament (EP) approves the extension (until February 2012) of the current protocol to the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco, the European Commission will waste no time in bringing forward a draft mandate to negotiate a new agreement with new parameters. That was what European Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki announced on Monday 12 December during the EP debate in which the differences among MEPs over extending current arrangements were all too clear.
“What are the main parameters of this better deal with Morocco that we should be aiming at?”, Damanaki asked. Firstly, economic viability: “It is imperative that any new protocol should ensure a better utilisation of available fishing possibilities as well as an overall financial envelope that clearly reflects market value”.
Secondly, environmental sustainability, she said: “This means that we will be defining fishing possibilities based on best available scientific advice and also that we will be targeting only the surplus”. Thirdly, international legality: with regard to the issue of the waters off Western Sahara, “we will fully respect international law”. There are a number of options for achieving this objective, she indicated. “We are working on all of them. If we were to follow the option of including the waters off Western Sahara, then we would need to demonstrate, through a strict and rigorous reporting mechanism, that there are economic benefits for the regions and local populations concerned. This would become a condition in the new protocol”, she stated.
On these issues, the Commission will build on the conclusions on the implementation of the current protocol and the debates that take place within the Parliament. The EP fisheries committee recommended approval of the protocol. “If that approach is followed by this House, then we will very soon be ready to move ahead towards a better protocol to this agreement”, Damanki promised. (LC/transl.rt)