A3-0335/91

RESOLUTION

on the common fisheries policy and the adjustments to be made

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission communication to the Council

and the European Parliament on the common fisheries policy

(SEC(90) 2244 - C3-0024/91),

- having regard to the motions for resolutions by:

(a) Mr Gangoiti Llaguno on the new common fisheries policy

and the small-scale fishing fleet (B3-0005/91),

(b) Mr Gangoiti Llaguno on the new common fisheries policy

(CFP) (B3-0006/91),

- having regard to the interim report of the Committee on

Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development and the opinion

of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology (A3-

0335/91),

A. whereas under the exceptional system for the conservation

and management of fishery resources set up in January 1983

for a 20-year period, a review, based on a report by the

Commission, is to be carried out in the tenth year of the

scheme, i.e. not later than 31 December 1992, for the

purpose of assessing the outcome of the common fisheries

policy and proposing guidelines on which to base the

necessary adjustments,

B. whereas the European Parliament was not sufficiently

involved in the system for the conservation and management

of fishery resources which led to the creation of the common

fisheries policy,

C. alarmed at the very poor state of most fishery resources,

but keenly mindful of the imperatives of development and

economic and social cohesion laid down in the EEC Treaty and

in particular the goal of ensuring a fair standard of living

for people who live by fishing, as set out in Article 39,

D. whereas overfishing is not the only reason for dwindling

resources, but whereas inadequate conservation of young

fish, the decay of the marine environment caused by

pollution, uncontrolled coastal development, the

inappropriate or improper use of certain fishing techniques

and practices and failure to respect existing legislation

are also implicated,

E. whereas consumer demand for fish far exceeds the Community's

production capacity,

F. whereas, despite the efforts being made, the Community fleet

is quantitatively and qualitatively unfit to cope with the

situation,

G. having regard to the present lack of appropriate

encouragement for research into fishery technology and

models for the evaluation, management and exploitation of

resources,

H. regretting that successive measures to reduce fishing levels

have too frequently over the last few years been adopted in

an uncoordinated fashion, without genuine regard for, or

even correct analysis of, the social implications,

I. whereas the success of the common fisheries policy reform

will depend to a very large degree on the extent to which

all those employed in the sector support the aims of the

reform, and whereas their support will itself depend on the

level and quality of Community solidarity with fishermen,

1. Notes the measures adopted in recent years in an attempt to

improve the resources situation, in particular:

(a) the stricter technical conservation measures in the

form of:

- larger permitted mesh sizes,

- encouragement given to the use of square meshes and

selective trawls,

- restrictions on the use of gill nets,

- restrictions on the use of beam trawls in specific

areas,

- a ban on automatic sorting machines,

- protection of certain spawning grounds or areas for

stocking with young fish,

(b) the multiannual guidance programmes which provide for

a substantial reduction in the whole Community fleet

in the period 1987-91 compared with the targets set for

1986 and whose implementation has brought varying

results in the different Member States,

(c) an increase, to some extent, in the inadequate but

necessary appropriations for structural measures

connected with Regulations (EEC) Nos. 4042/89 and

4028/86, and the amendments made to the latter text

with a view to improving its operation and catering for

joint ventures, experimental fishing, and, to a degree,

small-scale fisheries,

(d) a substantial increase in the financial resources

allocated to monitoring operations, although neither

the human resources placed at the Commission's disposal

nor its capacity to act have been boosted to a

corresponding extent;

2. Notes, however, that the above instruments bring only a

partial remedy for the lack of proportion existing between

the operational fleet and known resources and that the

various measures, to judge in particular by the rate of

implementation of the multiannual guidance programmes in the

different Member States, do not appear to have achieved

their appointed aims, the reasons for this being, inter

alia, the inadequacy of financial resources, the lack of

incentives encouraging fishermen to comply with the rules,

a lack of flexibility in the current model for the

management of resources and a lack of realism in some of the

technical measures adopted;

3. Draws the attention of the Community authorities and the

Member States to the current precarious financial position

of fishing undertakings resulting from the modernization

efforts which they have already undertaken and are

continuing to agree to, particularly in the small-scale

fishing sector, and which in some cases are accompanied by

commercial measures which clearly jeopardize the correct

application of the common fisheries policy and are taken

ignoring the latter, as, for example the reference price for

frozen tuna agreed within GATT;

4. Rules out the idea of a proportional undifferentiated

reduction in fleet capacity in all the Member States,

without the various sectors being taken into account, notes

that some Member States have already complied with he

objectives laid down and believes, therefore, that:

(a) Member States which have not managed to achieve the

capacity reduction targets set out in their 1987 to

1991 MAGPs should be compelled to take positive

measures to do so and such measures should include

capacity adjustment provisions,

(b) a two-year moratorium needs to be laid down in 1992 and

1993 in order to enable Member States which have not

yet managed to achieve the target set in the 1987 -

1991 MAGPs, to fulfil their obligation by the end of

that period, prior to the introduction of any new

multiannual guidance programmes incorporating different

approaches placed on a new footing;

(c) in order to strengthen and lend credibility to the

future MAGPs, provision should be made for sanctions

against Member States which fail to take measures to

secure compliance with these targets, without, however,

directly penalizing their fishermen;

5. Notes the new guidelines set out in the Commission

communication to the Council and Parliament entitled 'Common

fisheries policy' and believes that the communication

anticipates the report provided for in Article 9 of

Regulation (EEC) No. 170/83 of 25 January 1983;

6. Points out that the TAC/quota system, despite its

shortcomings, is an important element in the management of

resources;

7. Expresses its desire to be consulted prior to the

establishment of any measure concerning the management of

resources and consequently considers that Article 11 of

Regulation (EEC) No. 170/83 must be amended to ensure the

compulsory consultation of Parliament before the adoption

of such measures;

8. Considers, therefore, that the objective of relative

stability in the distribution of the volume of catches

amongst Member States, which is established in Article 4 of

Regulation (EEC) No. 170/83, must be retained in the second

10 years of the common fisheries policy, subject to the fact

that any interpretation to be given of the future

application of this principle shall conform to any criteria

set out by the Court of Justice of the European Communities

in any rulings it delivers on cases brought by Member States

relating to the application of this principle;

9. Considers that in any case its application should become

more flexible, as for example:

(a) in the establishment of the TACs, which, in some cases,

are not used up for indisputable scientific reasons or

because there is evidence of overfishing,

(b) by asking management units to take into account not

only geographical criteria but also biological stocks,

(c) by improving the management and exploitation systems

for mixed fisheries,

(d) by establishing an appropriate relationship between the

techniques for exploiting resources and the development

of fleets and the rational and sustained use of

existing resources;

10. Proposes that the instruments for the conservation of

Europe's sea fishery resources in the period 1993 to 2002

should likewise have as their cornerstone the access to

waters provisions of Article 6 of Regulation (EEC) No.

170/83, which should be retained intact, and also the

arrangements for limiting access to the biologically

sensitive fisheries region referred to in Article 7 of the

same regulation; these instruments could be revised, in the

light of the experiences of the past 10 years;

11. Proposes that the new instruments for limiting fishing

activity in order to conserve Europe's sea fishery resources

in the period 1993 to 2002 should not be confined to the

above method alone, but should draw on the widest range of

measures designed to give effect to the aims of

conservation, in particular:

(a) a study of additional systems based on direct

monitoring of fishing activity or a system of counting

per variety and per fishing-ground, allowing Member

States to choose whatever management instruments appear

best suited to the needs of their regions, and none of

the possible methods (graduated limits on the number

of fishing days, transferable licences, measures

enforced by Member States on a regional basis, new

technical measures, temporary cessation, etc.) should

be ruled out in advance in favour of any one approach,

since both the setting of objectives and the approving

of the admissible methods and plans submitted by the

Member States and the monitoring of their

implementation are the responsibility of both the

Member States concerned and the Community authority,

which safeguards the common interest;

(b) protection should be afforded, as a matter of priority,

to spawning grounds and areas for stocking with young

fish, as shown on a map of the Community fishing zone

that has to be plotted without fail,

(c) a regional approach, as is necessitated by the variety

of sector-specific or local situations, should be

adopted when laying down TACs and quotas, or

determining biologically sensitive areas and

economically sensitive areas, defined on the basis of

objective criteria, and the conditions of access

thereto, as well as when adapting fleets,

(d) understanding of the interrelationships of fished

species;

(e) greater responsibility for everybody, both those in the

fishing industry and elected representatives, at both

national and regional level;

12. Considers that the Commission should come forward with

proposals aimed at speeding up the conservation process and

proposing compensation for fishermen who are prepared to

accept stricter conservation measures;

13. Believes that the only way to bring the fleet more closely

into line with fishery and fleet resources is to increase

the attractiveness and funding of structural measures,

namely by making the CFP part of the Community's structural

funds policy and, since the inadequacy of appropriations may

politically compromise the desirable and possible objectives

of these regulations, deplores the fact that the practices

of some Member States can be obstructive to measures under

the funds in their present form, and appeals to the Member

States not to hinder the process;

14. Draws attention to the need to use the Community funds to

develop regional fish processing capacity, particularly in

peripheral regions, as a source of employment and a vital

contribution to the development of fishing communities;

15. Takes the view that:

- the section on research is insufficiently developed in

the Commission communication;

- in the short term the amount of funding available under

AIR for fisheries research must be established;

- Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union must be granted

access to AIR;

- an evaluation will have to be made of the findings of

research funded under fisheries agreements with third

countries;

- a European research institute will have to be chosen to

coordinate such research in the future;

16. Believes that the updated Financial Perspective and

structural funds for 1993-1997 will have to provide for an

'Objective 5(c)' for vulnerable regions that are heavily

dependent on fisheries and have the fewest opportunities for

conversion, and should provide for the secondary and

tertiary stages of fishing activity, whilst ensuring that

there is no discrimination between regions;

17. Is aware that the Community's social policy has not yet been

totally harmonized but that social measures are being

determined in various areas, and formally invokes the

necessary solidarity which the Community has to show with

its fishermen in the form of social measures to back up its

structural policy and reiterates the need for a social

policy covering all aspects of the working life of

fishermen, be they self-employed, members of cooperatives,

or employees;

18. Calls for future measures to adjust fishing levels to the

state of resources to be part of, at both Community and

national and regional levels, an integrated programme

enabling all the social and economic implications of such

measures for those employed in the fishing sector to be

recorded, with particular provision for:

- fair compensation for loss of income in the event of

temporary restrictions on fishing;

- in the event of a permanent cessation of employment,

social compensation measures such as early-retirement

benefit and retraining measures jointly financed by the

Community and the Member States, all designed so as to

ensure a decent standard of living to those affected and

to provide compensation in each region for the loss of

jobs;

19. Considers that priority must be given to a social policy for

small-scale fisheries in the least-favoured maritime regions

of the Community;

20. Deplores the limitation of the financial resources allocated

to monitoring operations and the legal impossibility for the

Commission to be able to act directly in this sphere, which

means, in view of the passive attitude of many Member

States, that a strict control of the effective

implementation of current Community rules on fisheries is

not carried out;

21. Points to the need to increase the supervisory powers and

capacities of the Community authorities, having regard to

the principle of subsidiarity, parallel to the more rigorous

national measures already being undertaken, so as to bolster

fishermen's confidence in European fisheries measures,

giving them the certainty that the law applies equally to

each and every one of them;

22. Awaits the technical and economic results of the pilot

projects and of specific and more concrete discussion

documents dealing in particular with technical feasibility

and also the problems of date protection, standardization

and relations with third countries, and in the meantime

takes a positive view a priori of the projected integrated

Community surveillance system whereby the positional data

collected by observation satellites would be processed by

an electronic data transmission network; nevertheless

considers that every effort should be made to avoid

excessive controls, which would only increase costs, and to

ensure that the establishment of such a system will not have

financial repercussions on the fisheries sector;

23. Deplores the inadequacy of the resources allocated to

biological research, making it impossible to have reliable

information on which to base TACs for all species, in

particular in the parts of the economic exclusion zone about

whose resources least is known,

24. Recognizes that the spirit of the FAR framework programme

is in keeping with the wishes expressed by Parliament in the

past and recommends that particular attention be devoted to

coordination of research activities designed to improve the

selectiveness of fishing gear and techniques;

25. Considers that the CMO should apply to as many species as

possible, bring greater transparency to price setting, and

be able to play a role in steering demand;

26. Welcomes the Commission's efforts to encourage and to

promote the development of aquaculture and hopes they will

be accompanied by instruments to guarantee the future

stability and development needed to consolidate and revive

this important sector, but warns against the irreversible

damage to or destruction of the coastal environment that can

result from over-intensive fish-farming and the practice of

moving on to new sites when the old ones become polluted

beyond repair;

27. Considers that support should be given to the Commission's

policy of increasing the number of international fishery

agreements with third countries based on criteria of

balanced fishing opportunities and their cost in terms of

both direct financial compensation under the Community

budget and the cost of licences paid for by Community

shipowners, but considers that the agreements must not be

based primarily on contributions of public funds; refuses

to accept that fisheries agreements with third countries

have no connection with Community commercial or development

policy but, on the contrary, firmly believes that these

various aspects of the Community's international relations

must be coordinated in order to achieve synergy;

28. Acknowledges that world population growth and the projected

consumption resulting therefrom assure a secure future for

fisheries activities;

29. Is convinced that the Community fishing industry, equipped

with a modern, efficient fleet and mindful both of its

responsibility to protect the marine environment on which

its survival depends and of its potential role in the

development of partner states, could become a valuable means

of enhancing the Community's international image and a key

regional development instrument;

30. Points out, finally, that the common fisheries policy cannot

succeed unless it has the support of Community fishermen;

31. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Council and the Commission.