WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1652/98 by Angela SIERRA GONZÁLEZ to the Commission. Renewal of the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement
C 297/2 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 15. 10. 1999 (1999/C 297/002) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1652/98 by Angela Sierra González (GUE/NGL) to the Commission Subject: Renewal of the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement (29 May 1998) Morocco has made public its intention not to renew the existing fisheries agreement with the European Union next year. Should this prove to be the case, it would have serious implications for the activity of the small-scale Community fleet. The fleet based in the regions of Galicia, Andalusia and the Canary Islands would be particularly hard hit: the grave threat to its future exploitation of the fishing grounds around the Canary Islands and Western Sahara would in turn bring redundancies and damage the production sphere in the aforemen- tioned areas of Spain already afflicted by high unemployment. In this regard the Commission must play a prominent role in the negotiations with the Kingdom of Morocco in order to prevent the fisheries agreement from being used as a bargaining counter on which the future of this important Community sector would hinge. What is the Commission’s view of Morocco’s announcement not to renew the fisheries agreement with the EU? What measures does the Commission intend to take in order to guarantee the future of the sector and of the small-scale European fleet which fishes in the fishing grounds around the Canary Islands and Western Sahara in the negotiations on a future fisheries agreement with Morocco? Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (17 September 1998) The Commission is aware of the statements by Morocco concerning non-renewal of the current fisheries agreement. It will shortly engage in detailed discussions, both with the Member States and with Morocco, to identify various options for the future of fisheries relations with that country. At the appropriate time the Commission will examine with the Member States what, if any, socio-economic initiatives it should take. (1999/C 297/003) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2007/98 by Felipe Camisón Asensio (PPE) to the Commission Subject: ‘Mediterranean ports’ pilot action (ERDF funds) (30 June 1998) It has recently been announced that the European Commission has approved various regional- planning pilot actions designed to solve similar problems affecting different regions in the Member States. One is the ‘Mediterranean Ports’ action which will concern Spain and Portugal. Will the Commission give details, for each geographical implementation timetable and specific projects planned for the ‘Mediterranean Ports’ action? locality under consideration, of the funding, Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (25 September 1998) The pilot scheme ‘Gateways to the Mediterranean’, part-financed under Article 10 of Regulation (EEC) 2084/93 (1) on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) during the period 1997-99, concerns transnational cooperation between Portugal, Spain and Morocco in the field of spatial planning