02/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - Controversial EU-Kiribati fishing agreement. On 5 September, the committee on fisheries of the European Parliament will discuss a new fishing protocol between the EU and the Republic of Kiribati. In her report, the rapporteur, Isabella Lövin (Greens/EFA, Sweden), recommends that Parliament refuse to grant its approval to the conclusion of this fishing protocol. The proposed protocol provides for four authorisations for purse seiners and six authorisations for longliners. The annual amount for access to the EEZ of Kiribati has been setat €975,000, which equates to a reference tonnage of 15,000 tonnes of tuna a year. The sum of €350,000 has been allocated to the sectoral fishing policy. According to the rapporteur (and the EP development committee), the protocol does not respect a number of provisions of the Nauru Agreement, a binding regional agreement signed by eight developing island states of the Pacific, including Kiribati, the main objective of which is to coordinate and harmonise the management of their fisheries sectors, on which they are highly dependent. (LC/transl.fl)