General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean: amended Agreement

PURPOSE: to conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, the amended Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean.

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 Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), was established and approved at the Fifth Session of the FAO Conference in 1949 and entered into force on 20 February 1952.

The European Community became a contracting party to the GFCM through the adoption of Decision 98/416/EC by the Council.

On 15 November 2013, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate, on behalf of the Union, amendments to the Agreement on matters falling within the Union's competence. Negotiations were successfully concluded at the GFCM meeting of 19 to 24 May 2014 and the contracting parties endorsed, by consensus, the text of an amended Agreement.

The amended Agreement is in line with the principles of the Union's Common Fisheries Policy. It is therefore in the Union's interest to approve it.

CONTENT: under this proposed Decision, the Council is requested to conclude the amended Agreement establishing the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean on behalf of the Union.

The text of the amended Agreement is attached to this Decision.

The purpose of the amendments to the Agreement is to modernise the GFCM and reinforce its role in the conservation of fisheries resources in its area of competence.

The objectives, general principles and functions of the GFCM have been reviewed and broadened to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources and their environment.

For further details of the amended Agreement, please refer to the summary of the Commission’s initial legislative proposal dated 23/09/2014.