Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-14-Speech-3-329"
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"en.20051214.22.3-329"2
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"Mr President, I must confess I rise to speak in this debate feeling a sense of anger, not least that it is 11.35 p.m. and many of us have missed our Christmas parties, but because we are here debating the eighth renewal of the fisheries agreement between the EU and the Seychelles, which would normally be considered a matter of simple routine.
This agreement, as other speakers have said, was due to enter into force on 18 January 2005. EU fishing vessels have been fishing continuously in the Seychelles' waters since January 2005. However, the Seychelles Government has not yet received a single euro, as we have heard. We are taking their fish without paying them a cent.
We must remember that the Seychelles was one of the countries affected on 26 December last year by the tsunami. As we know, it was the fishing communities that were hardest hit by that disaster. Here we are, in the European Union, exacerbating the problem by allowing our distant-water European fleet to fish in their waters, yet a year later we still have not paid them one cent.
How is it possible that this protocol was not submitted to the European Parliament until mid-October 2005, 10 months after the commencement of the agreement and two weeks after the first payment was due? The second instalment under this agreement is due next month and yet we are here at 11.40 p.m. still debating the text of the protocol, all our amendments to which the Commissioner has rejected. What are we doing here? Are we here simply to rubber-stamp a Commission proposal when there is not even the slightest hint of humility, of acknowledgement of this delay and acceptance of the Fisheries Committee’s amendments?
The Council says it is anxious that Parliament should deliver its opinion as soon as possible. The new protocol was signed by the two parties on 23 September 2004, and yet the Council did not request that Parliament should be consulted until 14 October 2005, more than a year later. I am well aware of all the internal procedural problems. I am well aware that we have to seek 21 different translations of all these protocols, but we have been aware of these shortcomings for a long time. Steps should have been taken to ensure that this process was speeded up. This situation is intolerable. It is grossly unfair to fish in the waters of the Seychelles or any other country while withholding payment from them. We have to ensure that this never happens again."@en1
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