On Tuesday 30 January, the European Commission proposed that the Council of the European Union authorise it to negotiate a new protocol to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement with Côte d’Ivoire.
The existing Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Côte d’Ivoire was signed on 1 July 2007.
The current six-year protocol implementing this agreement entered into provisional application on 1 August 2018 and will expire on 31 July 2024. It sets out the fishing opportunities granted to the EU fleet and the corresponding financial contribution paid by the EU and vessel owners (see EUROPE 12206/25).
The EU’s annual public financial contribution to Côte d’Ivoire amounts to €682,000 for the last year of application.
The agreement with Côte d’Ivoire provides fishing opportunities targeting tuna and highly migratory species for EU vessels from three Member States (Spain, France and Portugal).
The European Union already has a well-developed network of bilateral Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) in West and Central Africa, with Morocco, Mauritania, Cape Verde, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Gabon.
Link to the proposal and studies: https://aeur.eu/f/amd (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)