Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-28-Speech-4-136"
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"en.19991028.4.4-136"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I wish to express my regret, firstly at the fact that the Council cannot reply to this oral question which had originally been formulated by our Committee for both the Commission and the Council. For whatever reason the Council is not going to reply to this question.
What kind of agreement, Commissioner? One which continues to allow the fishing activities of the different fleets which today fish in those waters. What kind of cooperation? The widest possible, which must also include extractive cooperation, since if Europe is the principal market for the export of Moroccan fish, to subscribe to cooperation in terms of marketing and processing is not what is necessary, given that the market is controlled from the centres of consumption rather than from the centres of production. In any event, Mr Fischler, a genuine association policy should involve the opening up of that country to European investments, including in the field of extractive fishing. This will allow us to compete under equal conditions, putting Europeans and Moroccans on the same footing.
Equality has to be both real and effective and therefore non-discriminatory with regard to measures for the conservation of resources. Let us make sure, Commissioner, that what happened with the agreement with Argentina never happens again. Effective measures concerning the monitoring and control of the issues agreed, equally applicable to both parties, will be necessary. Nobody has a greater interest than the European Union in protecting resources and fishing responsibly. Let us ensure that the other party guarantees that it will apply these measures in the reproduction areas of the various species, where European fleets do not fish, and in those areas where both parties fish, and that closed seasons and temporary fishing bans are also applied, without discrimination and with a mutual system of control.
Commissioner, the European Parliament will support you politically and financially. That is why we have asked to be associated with this negotiation, which I hope will be approved in the coming tripartite meetings. Therefore, Mr Fischler, now – as we say in my country, on which you will no doubt become a great expert – good luck and
[take the bull by the horns].
I am pleased, however, that this debate is taking place today instead of being, as is usually the case, one of the last items on the agenda of the last day of one of our Strasbourg part-sessions. I hope that these debates can take place during the sittings on the “important days” in Strasbourg, because fishing deserves it, and an agreement of the importance of the one we will discuss today, even more so.
I would especially like to thank Mr Fischler for his punctual presence, and to thank him also for honouring the promise that he made to the Committee on Fisheries, in the hearing of 30 August, when he told us that he would give priority to the fisheries agreement with Morocco, which can be seen from the promptness with which he has drawn up a proposed mandate for negotiation. I wish therefore for this expression of thanks to be noted.
We must also congratulate ourselves on the fact that the Council has approved, despite the storm clouds which had gathered, this proposed mandate. Therefore, we now have a mandate for negotiation of the fisheries agreement with Morocco. If we add to this the fact that the two budgetary authorities – that is, the Council and Parliament – have declared themselves in favour of the political priority of funding this fisheries agreement, we will conclude, Mr Fischler, that “all” that is left is to negotiate and sign it. That is your challenge now, with no doubt whatsoever, but in this task you can count on the support of this Parliament and of course the help of the Committee on Fisheries which I preside over.
I would like to inform you that on the 29th in our committee we will have a wide-ranging audience with the sector affected by this fisheries agreement with Morocco and the participation of the European Commission would also be desirable.
I am sure it is not necessary, Mr Fischler, to emphasise once again the importance of this agreement with Morocco to certain Member States, such as Spain and Portugal, and to certain autonomous communities such as Galicia, Andalusia and the Canary Islands, all of which, as is well known, come within Objective 1, are very dependent on fishing and at the moment have no other fishing grounds for their fleets and have a business structure which does not allow certain types of cooperation. Commissioner, you will have the opportunity to observe what we are talking about on your next visit to Galicia, which we await with open arms.
A significant amount of the supply of fish to the European market depends on this agreement, as do many direct jobs, as well as many more involved in the industry and services. The proposed resolutions presented speak for themselves and I need no more evidence.
The recent seminar between Europe and Morocco which took place in our own Parliament highlighted the great interest, at the highest level, which Morocco has in Europe. “Cooperation” has been the mostly commonly used word. Well, the cooperation which the European Union is asking of Morocco at the moment is in the specific field of fishing. In relation to fishing we have no choice but to understand each other and cooperate. It is not a matter of exchanging one thing for another: fruit for fish. It is a matter of cooperating in the area of fishing. It is a matter of reaching the best possible agreement in terms of fishing cooperation. When? How? Fortunately the European Union is an economic, financial and commercial power. Fortunately we have structural mechanisms which provide for the negotiation contingencies. And, at the moment, I call on the Finnish Presidency to go ahead in the next Council with the FIFG Regulations and on the Commission, Mr Fischler, to be flexible in this text so that it may come closer to the position of the European Parliament. It is urgent that we foresee these contingencies in our structural aid and also, in exceptional cases, both for shipowners and for fishermen.
In this way, we should not be excessively hasty: our legislative and budgetary forecasts allow us to deal with a protracted negotiation. It is better to have a prolonged negotiation, resulting in a good agreement, than a bad one achieved quickly."@en1
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