PURPOSE: to denounce the Fisheries Partnership
Agreement between the European Community and the Union of the
Comoros.
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: the Fisheries
Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Community and
the Union of the Comoros, which entered into force on 6 March 2008,
shall apply for seven years from the date of its entry into force
and is renewable for additional periods of seven years, unless
notice of termination is given by either Party.
One of the objectives of the EU-Comoros FPA is to
ensure that the measures for the conservation and management of
fish stocks are effective, and that illegal, undeclared or
unregulated (IUU) fishing is prevented. It may be
terminated by either Party in the event of serious circumstances
such as the failure to comply with undertakings made with regard to
combating IUU fishing.
Pursuant to Council
Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 (the IUU Regulation), the
Commission is to identify third countries that it considers as
non-cooperating countries in fighting IUU fishing. In accordance
with the IUU Regulation, the Comoros was notified on 1 October
2015 by Commission
Decision of the possibility of being identified as a
non-cooperating third country in fighting illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing.
The Commission opened a dialogue with the Comoros
based on an action plan proposed by the Commission to the Comoros
to rectify the shortcomings, such as:
- the Comorian authorities' flag of convenience
policy;
- evidence of illegal fishing activities by the Comorian
fleet;
- the national authorities' poor or non-existent
monitoring and control capacities;
- the Comoros' outdated legal framework for
fisheries.
Since the Comoros did not take the necessary remedial
actions to solve the problems identified, they were identified as
non-cooperating third countries by Commission
Implementing Decision 2017/889. Following this identification
the Comoros still failed take the necessary remedial
action.
In accordance with the IUU Regulation, the Comoros
has since been added, by Council
Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1332, to the list of
non-cooperating third countries established by Implementing
Decision 2014/170/EU on 11 July 2017.
The Commission is to propose the denunciation
of any standing bilateral agreement with a non-cooperating third
country which provides for termination of the agreement in case of
failure to comply with undertakings made by that country with
regard to combating IUU fishing.
CONTENT: the Commission proposes that the Council
adopt a decision denouncing the Fisheries Partnership
Agreement between the European Community and the Union of the
Comoros, which entered into force on 6 March 2008.
This implies that it is incumbent on the Commission,
on behalf of the EU, to notify the Comoros of the Council and
the Union's decision to terminate the Partnership Agreement
with six months notice and a consultation between the Parties
before the agreement is terminated.