Rules for access to certain Community fishing areas and resources

Parliament approved the Commission proposal subject to 19 amendments. These amendments aimed mainly to: - point out that, in accordance with the Council Declaration of 15 March 1994, the fishing fleets of Spain and Portugal should be fully integrated into the general system of the common fisheries policy before 1 January 1996; - acknowledge that this integration should respect the acquis communautaire, in particular the principles of relative stability and no increase in total fishing effort; - stress that it was imperative to preserve the balance of resources in highly sensitive areas, requiring close monitoring of the development of the fishing effort deployed and of the state of resources; - define the fishing effort on the basis of a system of lists of fishing vessels established by the Member States for each ICES and CECAF area; - stipulate that the fishing effort for vessels of less than 10 metres would be defined through the allocation of an overall maximum limit for each Member State; - enable the Commission, on a proposal from a Member State, to declare a fishing area to be sensitive and to establish the necessary measures to limit the fishing effort in that area on a non-discriminatory basis, as well as to provide compensation to the fishermen affected by such measures. The Commission did not accept these amendments. �