EC/Lithuania fisheries agreement

OBJECTIVE: the object of the proposal for a Council Regulation is the conclusion of an Agreement on Fisheries Relations between the European Community and the Republic of Lithuania, with a view to the amalgamation of the Agreement concluded by the Community with that country in 1993 and those concluded with Lithuania by Sweden and Finland before their accession to the EU. SUBSTANCE: the new Agreement, which will be valid for a period of six years, includes all of the elements of the existing Agreements: balanced exchange of quotas, reciprocal access arrangements and the possibility for the Community to obtain fishing rights from Lithuania on surplus stocks in return for financial compensation. The Agreement also includes the following additional elements: - explicit references to the rights of the parties in inspecting each other's vessels; - a settlement procedure in the event of the arrest of a vessel; and - an undertaking to cooperate in international organizations. In order to take account of the Europe Agreement concluded with Lithuania, the parties have undertaken to cooperate in establishing joint enterprises in the fisheries sector. To this end, they have provided for the possibility of concluding a Protocol at a later stage, implementing the elements of the 'second generation' Agreements. �