The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the adoption of management measures for Mediterranean fishery resources. It recalled that it had given an opinion on 9 June 2005 on the Commission proposal concerning management measures for the sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea (COM(2003)0589), and that the adoption of this position had been the outcome of close collaboration between the Commission and Parliament. Parliament pointed out that the only management measures now applicable to fishing in the Mediterranean date from 1994, and do not concern the other seas of the European Union, the measures for which allow responsible fishing. The absence of a regulation on fisheries management in this region of the EU had created obvious discrimination among European fishermen, which was becoming steadily worse.

Parliament expressed its concern at the inactivity of the Council, which could only be interpreted as a lack of interest in the Mediterranean Sea. The latter, however, from the point of view of fishing activities, is acknowledged to be one of the most diverse and complex regions, not only biologically, but also in environmental, social and economic terms. This inactivity, by preventing the adoption of more responsible rules that are better adapted to the general framework of the common fisheries policy, was incompatible with the objective of sustainable development.

Parliament went on to state that it was worried by the fact that if a decision is not taken quickly, international obligations regarding management of fisheries in the EU, particularly in the context of regional fisheries organisations covering the Mediterranean (the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas), were in danger of not being met. It called therefore on the Council to ensure that the management measures applicable to fish stocks in the Mediterranean are adopted without delay.