Brussels, 24/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 23 September, the European Commission adopted the legislative proposals on the new four-year fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco (EUROPE 10895).
Following difficult negotiations, a draft of the new protocol was initialled by negotiators on 24 July 2013, making provision for fishing rights for 126 European vessels.
The main aim of the protocol to the agreement, according to the proposals, is to provide fishing opportunities for vessels from the European Union in the waters of the Kingdom of Morocco “within the limits of the surplus available”. The Commission drew upon the findings of an ex-post evaluation carried out by external experts.
Specifically, the protocol provides for fishing opportunities in the following categories:
small-scale pelagic fishing in the north: 20 seiners (Spain)
small-scale fishing in the north: 35 bottom longliners (principally Spain but also Portugal)
small-scale fishing in the south: 10 Spanish vessels (rod and line)
demersal fishing: 16 vessels (bottom longliners and bottom trawlers from Spain, Portugal and Italy
tuna fishing: 27 vessels (pole and line, 23 from Spain and 4 from France)
industrial pelagic fishing: 80,000 tonnes of catches, 18 vessels (Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal and France).
The annual financial contribution is €30 million: €16 million to allow the EU vessels to fish in Moroccan waters and €14 million to support the development of the sectoral fisheries policy of the Kingdom of Morocco (this support meets the objectives of the national fisheries policy and, in particular, the needs of the Kingdom of Morocco in the fight against illegal fishing).
The previous protocol, that has been provisionally applied since February 2011, was not approved by the European Parliament; which considered that its cost-benefit ratio was too low, that it did not guarantee the sustainability of the stocks exploited and that it did not respect international law insofar as it did not prove that local populations would derive any advantage from the economic and social benefits from the said protocol.
The Commission says that Parliament's concerns have been addressed, notably by
significantly improving the cost-benefit ratio of the new protocol under which fishing opportunities have increased in relation to the previous protocol while the EU's financial contribution has been reduced;
emphasising the principle of sustainability as a prime condition for the activity envisaged, a principle based on sound scientific advice and reiterated several times in the text;
requiring Morocco to provide regular detailed reports on the use of the financial contribution for the fisheries sector, including the economic and social benefits on a geographical basis, and making provision for a mechanism for the possible suspension of the protocol, including in the event of any violation of human rights and democratic principles.
On this basis, the Commission proposes that the Council authorise the signing of this new protocol. (LC/transl: fl)