20/07/2018 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission put the proposal to the member states on 17 July that it negotiate a new sustainable fisheries partnership agreement with the Republic of The Gambia. An agreement of this sort (like those already signed in the region with Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Capo Verde, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire) ensures that EU fishing activities outside its waters are based on the same principles and standards as those that apply under EU law, the Commission says. There already exists an agreement between the EU and The Gambia, dating from 1987 and implemented through three successive protocols that gave EU vessels access to Gambian fishing areas until June 1996, when the last application protocol expired. Since that date, the agreement has remained dormant.