The Council of Ministers of the EU adopted a decision on Monday 10 October establishing the EU position for the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Hobart, Australia, from 17 to 28 October 2016. The European Commission, however, is not in agreement with the position taken by the Council.
The EU is a contracting party to the convention on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources, the objective of which is the conservation of marine living resources in that region. In addition to the EU and 12 of its member states, 23 other countries are contracting parties.
The CCAMLR is, inter alia, responsible for the adoption of conservation measures – measures which may become binding upon the EU.
The Council working party for internal and external fisheries policy examined a non-paper on the EU’s position on 15 and 22 September 2016. The EU stance on matters pertaining to the common fisheries policy was endorsed on 22 September 2016. However, all delegations considered that those measures on the agenda of the annual meeting of CCAMLR which concern the establishment of the marine protected areas and of the special areas for scientific study were preponderantly measures for the protection of the environment. As these measures fall outside the scope of the framework position, and fall in the area where the EU shares competence with the member states, all delegations considered the relevant proposals must be submitted to the CCAMLR, or supported within the CCAMLR, on behalf of the Union and its member states.
Council-Commission disagreement. The Commission does not share this view. It pointed out that a case is pending in the Court of Justice of the EU (C-626/15), opposing the Commission and the Council on the issue of CCAMLR competence. It maintains its position that the measures for the establishment of marine protected areas fall under EU exclusive competence and that the framework position applies.
The Commission issued a statement in which it says that it cannot agree with the Council’s conclusion that the proposals on conservation measures establishing the Weddell Sea marine protected area (WSMPA), the East Antarctic representative system of marine protected areas (EARSMPA), time-limited special areas for scientific study in newly exposed marine areas following ice shelf retreat or collapse and the Ross Sea Region marine protected area (RSRMPA) by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) should be submitted or supported by the European Union and its member states, as these measures fall, in view of their aim, content and context, within the EU’s exclusive competence for the conservation of marine biological resources (Article 3(1)(d) TFEU). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)