Fishery resources: the Community's participation in Regional Fisheries Organisations RFOs

The committee adopted the report by Salvador JOVÉ PERES on the Commission communication. It regretted the fact that the communication dealt with only limited aspects of the subject and called on the Commission to draw up a more comprehensive paper containing the principles for EU action vis-à-vis regional fisheries organisations. The Commission should fully exercise its responsibility to act on behalf of the Community in regional fisheries organisations, including the monitoring of fisheries. The committee also urged the Commission to fulfil its duty to supervise and monitor the activities delegated to the Member States in this area. It stressed that the Commission must be given all the human and material resources needed to exercise its powers and that all these costs should be borne by the Community budget. The report also called on the Commission to: - set up a new unit for major migratory species in its relevant Directorate-General, given that many regional fisheries organisations were largely concerned with regulating fishing for such species; - submit a proposal on monitoring fisheries, envisaging a uniform system of infringements and sanctions, including a ban on selling fishery products from ships which did not comply with the arrangements laid down by regional fisheries organisations; - inform Parliament in sufficient time of the issues dealt with in such organisations which entailed legal obligations for the Community, so that it could participate properly in the decision-making process.�