Common Fisheries Policy CFP: Community financial measures for the implementation of the Fisheries Policy and of the Law of the Sea 2007-2013

2005/0045(CNS)

 The committee adopted the report by Catherine STIHLER(PES, UK) amending the proposal under the consultation procedure:

- a number of new provisions were introduced to ensure that the text would explicitly include the objectives of the Community financial measures, i.e. contributing towards rational and sustainable exploitation of the surplus of coastal States' marine resources; improving scientific and technical knowledge of the fisheries in question; helping to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing; contributing towards strategies for sustainable management of fisheries; and strengthening capacity-building in order to help foster "better global governance of fisheries at financial and political level";

- new clauses provided for funding for data collection to support the assessment and monitoring of fisheries plans and activities under the marine Natura 2000 network as well as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA);

- funding for regional advisory councils (RACs) should continue for more than the initial five-year period and should include the costs of commissioning scientific advice;

- the Council should adopt, by 31 December 2009, a framework regulation on fisheries agreements with third countries, specifying general objectives for agreements, procedures for their negotiation and administration, and "criteria for their evaluation with respect to value to the Community, their coherence with other Community policies including development and environment, and their environmental, economic and social sustainability". The committee argued that such a regulation would provide a solid legal basis and improved clarity for the negotiation of fisheries partnership agreements, which have hitherto been concluded on an ad-hoc basis.