EC/Guinea fisheries agreement: protocol for the period from 1st January to 31st December 2002

The committee adopted the report by Daniel VARELA SUANZES-CARPEGNA (EPP-ED, E) broadly approving the proposal subject to a few amendments (under the consultation procedure). The committee was concerned that Parliament should be provided with better information to enable it to carry out its duties under the consultation procedure. It therefore stipulated that, before any agreement on renewal of the protocol, the Commission should submit to Parliament and Council a report on the implementation of the Agreement, including a cost benefit analysis. Only after this report had been received and Parliament consulted should the Council authorise the Commission to enter into negotiations for adopting a new protocol. Moreover, in view of the financial and social importance of targeted measures, the committee also wanted a copy of the report on the targeted measures which the authorities of Guinea were required to provide in accordance with the Protocol to be forwarded to Parliament. Lastly, the report said that Member States whose vessels were fishing under the Protocol should be required to notify the Commission of the quantities of the catches taken in the Guinea fishing zone, in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No. 500/2001, in order to achieve a more realistic picture of the actual catches of the EU fishing fleet. �