Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-07-05-Speech-4-064-000"
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"en.20120705.9.4-064-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I want to clearly express, with the resolution and conviction given to us by the force of reason, the Committee on Fisheries’ unanimous concern when it comes to possible agreements under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on state responsibility for vessels’ activities.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the fishing regulations of both the European Union and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), there is an overall principle that is paradigm in the regulation to control fishing activities and the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing: it establishes that the flag state is primarily responsible for controlling its vessels’ activities, wherever they work. Based on this principle, the flag state must, for example, certify that their vessels’ catches conform to legislation. This catch certification is essential to these catches being unloaded in EU ports and being sent to market. However, it is also essential to respect the adopted conservation and fishing management measures, the objective of which is to ultimately bring fish stocks up to sustainable levels for fishing.
Many states without their own fleet must charter ships from other countries to fish, which is natural, as long as they comply with the legal requirements. That said, Commissioner, you are aware, as we all are, that many of these chartering states have neither the resources, the capacity, nor often the will to control the fishing activities of these vessels. You will agree that, if there is no guarantee of an effective control of fishing activities, it is absolutely impossible to fight against illegal fishing and it is very difficult to aid sustainability, which is the cornerstone of our common fisheries policy (CFP) and the focus of its reform, which we are currently debating in Parliament.
In the latest CITES meeting, the Working Group on Introduction from the Sea discussed the flag state’s responsibility over the species covered by CITES, and proposed to transfer this responsibility to the chartering state for CITES species caught on the high seas. This working group will report to the Standing Committee of the Convention in July 2012 and this committee, in turn, will report to the Conference of the Parties (COP) at the March 2013 meeting, when a definitive decision will be taken.
According to my information on the European Union, the Commission held a meeting with the Member States last Monday. During this meeting, the Commission appears to have inexplicably announced that there is no official position, that is, that the Member States are free to adopt whichever position they consider to be most convenient for their interests in the upcoming COP. If this is the case, Commissioner, you can understand that it is both disappointing and discouraging that the Commission has not taken a stand on such a vital issue, particularly during a period when we are reforming the CFP.
I have been informed that in the coming days, there will be a meeting between Member States and the Commission itself to adopt a common position. I think that there is still time to rectify the situation and for the Commission to send out a clear and resounding message, preventing the derogation of what has been the basic principle up until now: the flag state’s responsibility. This issue is a lot more important than some irresponsibly believe. If the proposal goes ahead, it will set a precedent that will undoubtedly cause great harm to our fisheries management and to the fight against illegal fishing. The Commission cannot allow all the work undertaken hitherto to be thrown away. It has been a joint effort on two aspects in which Parliament is completely involved and which also involves regional organisations such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) or the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) itself.
Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I will finish. Under no circumstances, in my opinion, should the charter state be granted responsibility for controlling their vessels’ activity; this must remain the flag state’s responsibility. This is the unequivocal position of the Committee on Fisheries of this Parliament, and I hope it is also that of the Commission itself. For that reason, I ask if the Commission could explain its position on the issue and how it will ensure that the primary responsibility of the flag state is maintained."@en1
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