WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2712/97 by Bárbara DÜHRKOP DÜHRKOP to the Commission. Compliance with the fisheries Agreement with Morocco and boarding of vessels
C 102/100 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 4. 98 Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (14 October 1997) The Commission wishes to point out to the honourable Members of Parliament that Resolution A-4-0317/96 does not invite it to prepare a communication on its policy with regard to the cross-border consumer information centres. However, the Commission wishes to recall that on 24 July 1997 it transmitted to Parliament a study carried out by an independent consultant to evaluate the centres’ pilot projects. The Commission intends to prepare a proposal on a legal basis for the subsidies which will also cover the Euro infocentres. This proposal will be presented before the end of the year. (98/C 102/145) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2712/97 by Ba·rbara Du¤hrkop Du¤hrkop (PSE) to the Commission (28 July 1997) Subject: Compliance with the fisheries Agreement with Morocco and boarding of vessels Since the fisheries Agreement between the Community and Morocco was signed in May 1995, there have been 17 cases in which Spanish vessels operating in Moroccan fishing grounds have been boarded. Senior officials responsible for the Community fleet maintain that such boarding is, more often than not, the result of arbitrary action and that fishing is taking place in a situation of intolerable uncertainty as to the legal position. When a vessel has been boarded, do the Moroccan authorities invariably inform the Commission within 48 hours, as they are required to do under the fisheries Agreement? Does the list of vessels boarded held at the Spanish Consulate in Agadir (1) tally with the information in the Commissionís possession? What does the Commission think of the monitoring and detection system used by Moroccan surveillance vessels? Does it offer technical guarantees? Does it conform to approved international standards? To what extent does the Commission believe that the fisheries Agreement with Morocco is being observed? (1) El Pa ·s, 23. 7. 1997, p. 48. Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (22 September 1997) Since the entry into force of the new fisheries Agreement between Morocco and the Community the Moroccan authorities generally inform the Commission Delegation in Rabat within 48 hours as required under Chapter VIII of Annex II to the Agreement. The information held by the Spanish Consul in Agadir is not fully comprehensive and covers only events taking place in a part of Morocco’s waters and cannot, therefore, be compared with that in the Commission’s possession. The Commission has at all times demanded that the Moroccan authorities comply fully with the requirements applicable under the Agreement as regards the boarding of Community fishing vessels authorized to operate in Morocco’s fishing zone, the aim being to ensure that owners of Community fishing vessels are able to exercise their rights. In the light of the recent boardings, however, the Commission has asked that the Joint Committee provided for in the Agreement should meet not in December, as was originally planned, but at the end of September, looking into possible ways of improving procedures where a vessel is boarded and ensuring the utmost transparency and flow of information. The Commission regards the implementation of the fisheries Agreement with Morocco as satisfactory. The utilization of fishing opportunities between December 1995 and June 1997 was very high for most types of fishing and the Commission remains committed to improving administrative cooperation between both parties to the Agreement