The European Parliament adopted by 428 votes to 64,
with 118 abstentions, a resolution on the management of the fishing
fleets in the Outermost Regions (ORs).
As a reminder, the outermost regions include nine EU
regions, which are part of France (Guadeloupe, French Guiana,
Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin), Portugal
(Madeira and Azores) and Spain (Canary Islands).
Specificities of the ORs: Members considered that the Common Fisheries Policy
(CFP) and the European
Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), designed to tackle the
problems and challenges of continental Europe, can only provide a
limited response to the specific characteristics of fisheries in
the ORs. They called, therefore, for the development of a
strategy for each regional sea basin tailored to the specific
situation of each of the outermost regions.
Stressing the presence in the ORs of a wide variety of
small communities that are highly dependent on traditional,
coastal and small-scale fishing, the resolution called for the
need to:
- involve local fisheries in achieving food security for
local communities;
- protect marine biological resources around the
ORs: only fishing vessels registered in OR ports should be allowed
to fish in OR waters;
- strengthen support for relevant scientific research
projects given that the OR seabed is a veritable living
laboratory of biodiversity;
- maintain the balance between fishing capacity and
opportunities in accordance with the precautionary principle
and taking into account socio-economic realities.
Members observed the difficulty, or even
impossibility, for certain fishermen in the ORs to access credit
and/or insurance for their vessels, causing safety problems
and economic constraints for these fishermen.
Making better use of possibilities provided under
Article 349 of the Treaty and the CFP: Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union comprises the specific features of ORs. These
include remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography
and climate, and economic dependence on a few products.
Members called for the full application of Article
349 TFEU in the European Union's policies, regulations, funds
and programmes relating to fisheries, particularly in the EMFF, in
order to respond to the specific difficulties encountered by the
ORs.
Parliament recommended, inter alia:
- setting up a separate Advisory Council for the
ORs;
- better use of the possibilities provided for in the
EMFF to support this kind of local development in the
ORs;
- establishing fisheries local action groups (FLAGs),
which are recognised to be an important channel for support and for
opportunities to diversify fishing activities;
- stepping up the fight against illegal, unreported
and unregulated (IUU) fishing undertaken in the EEZ of
certain ORs;
- speeding up the implementation of the EMFF and to use
the opportunities it provides to invest heavily in fleet
modernisation – improvements to safety, on-board hygiene,
energy efficiency and quality of fishery products – as well as
in fishing ports, landing sites and aquaculture, in order to
generate new market outlets;
- paying particular attention to the interests of ORs
when fisheries agreements are concluded with third
countries;
- continue with specific aid schemes such as
special taxation models;
- improving data collection on stocks and the
assessment of the impact of small-scale vessels in the
ORs;
- allowing the funding (at EU or national level) of the
ORs’ artisanal and traditional fishing vessels with a view to
developing economic opportunities for all players in the blue
economy;
- that the aid intensity for engine replacement
in the ORs should be increased where scientific evidence indicates
that climate conditions and climate change have a decisive negative
impact on the ORs’ fleets;
- creating better incentives under a future EMFF to
encourage young people to work in the maritime economy.
The Commission is invited to look into the possibility
of establishing an instrument specifically dedicated to
supporting fisheries in the ORs, along the lines of the POSEI
scheme for agriculture in the ORs.