Policy Recommendations

  • The EU should respect the surplus principle as concluded in the UNCLOS; the EU should not fish in countries where a surplus is not proved and the prevention of overexploitation cannot be guaranteed;
  • Before an agreement is concluded or extended, there should be reliable data on the maximum sustainable amount of catch and the capacity of local fleet. No fishing should take place in the absence of scientific stock-assessment data;
  • In measuring the total allowable catch (TAC), FPAs should do away with the obsolete measurement in gross registered tonnage (GRT) the internal volume of a ship.
  • The European Union has to make more of an effort to let local processing industry develop in developing countries;
  • Priority access should be reserved for the national fleet of poor coastal states, especially to small scale and artisan fishermen;
  • The EU should step up efforts to help ACP countries develop effective national management systems, with supporting policies and institutions, in order to prevent overexploitation. At present, effective control is often lacking in poor countries;
  • The EU should raise the price of fishing licences to its fleet, in order to abort a hidden subsidy that hurts poor fishermen.

Case: Fisheries Partnership Agreements

03-09-2009 EP Development Committee concerned about FPA with the Republic of Guinea

Last December, the European Commission and the Republic of Guinea agreed upon a Fisheries Partnership Agreement. This controversial agreement was made without any parliamentary consultation. Only now - about 9 months after the agreement was reached - the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament is producing a report under the consultation procedure, with possible input from the Development Committee. Fair Politics was very pleased to read the critical opinion drafted by the rapporteur new chairperson of the Development Committee in the Parliament Eva Joly (Greens - EFA).

In the opinion Joly mentions the EUs commitments towards Policy Coherence for Development as described in Art 178 of the TEC, in which the European Community emphasises the importance of taking into account developing countries interests when implementing policies that could affect them. Consequently, she states that this FPA "could not be considered an instrument for development since its primary objective is to arrange subsidised access for EU fishing fleets into the waters of Guinea and not to promote the development of Guinean society".

Joly highlights the clear incoherence to be addressed, expresses concerns for shrimp depletion and the decrease, mode and transparency in financial support, and proposes several amendments to be included in the final report. This includes the request for renegotiation of the FPA in order to address the mentioned concerns.

Fair Politics encourages the amendments made by the Development Committee and hopes that the Fisheries Committee will leave these amendments untouched! This way the Commission and Council can take notice of the developmental concerns of the Fisheries Partnership Agreements with the Republic of Guinea.

MEP Eva Joly contributed to fair politics by drafting this opinion and raising the concept of Policy Coherence for Development in relation to the Fisheries Partnership Agreements. This contribution will therefore be monitored as fair and Joly receives the first Fair Politics point of the new parlement!

For more information on the Fisheries Partnership Agreements, please see our case study.

Monitor fair: Greens/EFA