Fishing opportunities in EU waters of fishing vessels flying the flag of Venezuela in the exclusive economic zone off the coast of French Guiana. Declaration

2010/0392(NLE)

PURPOSE: the approval on behalf of the European Union, of the Declaration on the granting of fishing opportunities in EU waters to fishing vessels flying the flag of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the exclusive economic zone off the coast of French Guiana.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

BACKGROUND: subject to their compliance with the applicable legally binding Union acts on the conservation and management of fishery resources, fishing vessels flying the Venezuelan flag have operated in EU waters in the exclusive economic zone off the coast of French Guiana for many decades.

The processing industry based in French Guiana depends on the landings from those fishing vessels and therefore the continuity of those operations should be ensured. In order to ensure such continuity it is necessary that the Union make a declaration addressed to Venezuela confirming its readiness to issue fishing authorisations to a limited number of fishing vessels flying the flag of Venezuela on the condition that they comply with the applicable legally binding Union acts,

This Declaration must now be approved on behalf of the European Union.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was undertaken.

LEGAL BASIS: Article 43(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in conjunction with point (b) of Article 218(6) thereof.

CONTENT: with this proposal, the Declaration addressed to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the granting of fishing opportunities to fishing vessels flying the flag of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the exclusive economic zone off the coast of French Guiana (hereinafter "the Declaration") is hereby approved on behalf of the European Union.

The text of the Declaration is attached to this Decision. It stipulates in particular that authorised fishing vessels flying the flag of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall comply with any relevant European Union rules or regulations specifying inter alia the fish stocks that may be targeted, the maximum number of authorised fishing vessels and the proportion of catches to be landed into ports in French Guiana.

For further information about other aspects of this Declaration, please refer to the summary of the previous legislative document dates 07/01/2011.

BUDGETARY IMPACT: the proposal has no impact on the EU’s budget.