PURPOSE: to conclude the Agreement between the
European Union and Norway on reciprocal access to fishing in the
Skagerrak for vessels flying the flag of Denmark, Norway and
Sweden.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the
act only if Parliament has given its consent to the
act.
BACKGROUND: an Agreement on reciprocal access to
fishing in the Skagerrak and Kattegat between Denmark, Norway and
Sweden was signed on 19 December 1966. It remained in force for an
initial period of 35 years until 2002 and was subsequently extended
for two five-year periods until 2012.
This agreement allowed for reciprocal access between
those three countries to fish up to 4 nautical miles from their
respective baselines in the Skagerrak and Kattegat, which are the
waters between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It established
that, for the purposes of such fishing, the area in question was
deemed to constitute the high seas.
In view of more recent developments in international
fisheries law, Norway considered that the existing agreement was
not in conformity with the current provisions of the Law of the
Sea. Norway was particularly concerned with regard to the
provisions on control.
On 29 July 2009, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry
formally informed the Danish authorities that they wished to
terminate the Agreement with a formal denunciation. Consequently,
the Agreement expired on 7 August 2012.
Subsequently, Norway entered into formal negotiations
with the Commission, on behalf of the European Union, with the aim
of establishing a replacement Agreement on reciprocal access to
fishing in the Skagerrak and Kattegat area. This new Agreement was
signed on 15 January 2015.
CONTENT: the Commission proposed that the Council
conclude the Agreement between the European Union and Norway on
reciprocal access to fishing in the Skagerrak for vessels flying
the flag of Denmark, Norway and Sweden on behalf of the
Union.
The new Agreement:
- maintains the exclusive access granted to
vessels from Denmark, Norway and Sweden to each other's waters
outside 4 nautical miles from the baselines;
- ensures continued reciprocal access for the two
Member States and Norway to the respective waters of the other
Parties in the Skagerrak area, whilst at the same time, ensuring
sound conservation and management measures for fisheries in the
area;
- allows for control measures in harmony with the
principles of normal Coastal State jurisdiction, as is already the
case for fisheries in the North Sea.
The measures proposed are designed in accordance with
the objectives and the rules of the Common
Fisheries Policy and are consistent with the Union's policy on
sustainable development.