P8_TA(2019)0064

Fisheries Partnership Agreement between Côte d’Ivoire and the EU (2018-2024) (resolution)

European Parliament non-legislative resolution of 12 February 2019 on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Protocol on the implementation of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (2018-2024) (10858/2018 — C8-0387/2018 — 2018/0267M(NLE))

(2020/C 449/28)

The European Parliament,

—	having regard to the draft Council decision (10858/2018),

—	having regard to the Protocol on the implementation of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (2018-2024) (10856/2018),

—	having regard to the request for consent submitted by the Council in accordance with Article 43, Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a)(v), and Article 218(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (C8-0387/2018),

—	having regard to its legislative resolution of 12 February 2019 (1) on the draft decision,

—	having regard to Rule 99(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

—	having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries and the opinion of the Committee on Development (A8-0034/2019),

A.	whereas the Commission and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire have negotiated a new sustainable fisheries partnership agreement (EU-Côte d’Ivoire SFPA) and implementing protocol for a six-year period;

whereas the overall aim of the EU-Côte d’Ivoire SFPA is to increase fisheries cooperation between the EU and Côte d’Ivoire, in the interests of both parties, by promoting a sustainable fisheries policy and sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the Côte d’Ivoire exclusive economic zone (EEZ);

C.	whereas the uptake of fishing opportunities under the previous EU-Côte d’Ivoire SFPA amounted, on average, to 79 %, a figure considered to be good on the whole; whereas during that period, however, longliners did not make use of the fishing opportunities available;

whereas the fact that the EU-Côte d’Ivoire SFPAs have been concluded one after the other has been helping Côte d’Ivoire’s economy to the extent that local seamen and the Abidjan port and canning facilities have been used, the by-catches of EU tuna seiners have been turned to account, and local monitoring capacities have been strengthened (although they are considered to be generally modest);

whereas the EU-Côte d’Ivoire SFPA should promote more effective sustainable development of the Ivorian fishing communities and of related industries and activities; whereas the support to be provided under the Protocol has to be consistent with the national development plans — in particular the Strategic Plan for the Development of Livestock, Fisheries, and Aquaculture (PSDEPA) — and the Blue Growth Action Plan, devised with the United Nations to increase production in, and professionalise, the sector in order to meet the population’s food and employment needs; whereas, according to the above-mentioned Strategic Plan, achieving those aims requires a budget of more than EUR 140 million;

F.	whereas the EU, through the European Development Fund, is contributing a multiannual budget of EUR 273 million for Côte d’Ivoire, focusing on, among other areas, infrastructure, health, and humanitarian aid;

Takes the view that the EU-Côte-d’Ivoire SFPA should pursue two equally important goals: (1) providing fishing opportunities for EU vessels in the Côte d’Ivoire EEZ, on the basis of the best available scientific advice and without interfering with conservation and management measures by the regional organisations to which Côte d’Ivoire belongs — primarily the ICCAT — or overrunning the available surplus; and (2) promoting cooperation between the EU and Côte d’Ivoire with a view to a sustainable fisheries policy and sound exploitation of fishery resources in the Côte d’Ivoire fishing zone, and contributing to sustainable development of the Ivorian fisheries sector through economic, financial, technical, and scientific cooperation, without undermining Côte d’Ivoire’s sovereign options and strategies regarding that development;

Draws attention to the findings of the retrospective and prospective assessment of the Protocol to the EU-Côte d’Ivoire SFPA, produced in September 2017, which stated that the Protocol to the 2013-2018 SFPA had on the whole proved to be effective, efficient, appropriate to the interests involved, and consistent with the Ivorian sectoral policy and a high degree of acceptability to stakeholders, and which recommended the option of concluding a new protocol;

Maintains that the EU-Côte d’Ivoire SFPA and the Protocol thereto, when they are implemented and if they should be revised and/or renewed, have to allow for and be aligned with the PSDEPA and the Blue Growth Plan for the development of the Ivorian fisheries sector, and specifically should:

—	Improve governance: drafting and validating legislation and building on management plans;

—	Tighten up control and surveillance in the Côte d’Ivoire EEZ;

—	Strengthen measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including in inland waters;

—	Enable landing quays and ports to be constructed and/or renovated, including at — but not limited to — the Port of Abidjan;

—	Improve conditions at smokehouses, particularly for women, thus making for a more effective curing system;

—	Support the improvement of working conditions for women, who are primarily responsible for dealing with by-catch;

—	Establish marine protected areas;

—	Strengthen partnerships with third countries in the form of fisheries agreements, ensuring transparency through the publication of the contents of these agreements, and also by establishing a regional programme for the training and use of observers;

—	Enable fish markets to be built;

—	Enable the reinforcement of organisations representing men and women in the fishing industry, especially those involved in artisanal fishing, thereby helping to strengthen technical, management and negotiating capabilities;

—	Serve to set up and/or refurbish basic and vocational training centres, thereby raising the skill levels of fishermen and seamen;

—	Enhance scientific research capabilities and the ability to monitor fishery resources;

—	Improve the sustainability of marine resources overall;

Considers that the rules regarding the hiring of ACP seamen for EU fishing vessels, amounting to 20 % of the crew, could be more ambitious; reiterates the need to abide by ILO principles and, in particular, advocates the signing of ILO Convention No. 188, implying as this does an obligation to observe the general principles of freedom of association and free collective bargaining for workers and of non-discrimination in employment and at work; also calls for consideration to be given to the demands of local seamen’s unions that social security, health and retirement cover for ACP seamen be translated better into effect;

Considers that information should be compiled on the benefits that the implementation of the Protocol brings to local economies (employment, infrastructure, social improvements);

Considers it desirable to improve the quantity and accuracy of data on all catches (target species and by-catches) and on the conservation status of fishery resources and to improve the implementation of sectoral support funding in order that the impact of the Agreement on the marine ecosystem and fishing communities can be gauged more exactly; calls on the Commission to help ensure that the bodies responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Agreement, including a joint scientific committee to be set up for that purpose, can operate regularly and transparently, with the involvement of artisanal fishermen’s and women fish smokers associations, trade unions, representatives of coastal communities, and Ivorian civil society organisations;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States, in their cooperation and official development assistance policies centring on Côte d’Ivoire, to bear in mind that the European Development Fund and the sectoral support laid down in this SFPA should complement each other with a view to contributing more rapidly and effectively to the empowerment of local fishing communities and to the full exercise of Côte d’Ivoire’s sovereignty over that country’s resources;

Calls on the Commission to urge the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to use the financial contribution provided by the protocol to sustainably strengthen its national fisheries industry, encouraging demand for local investment and industrial projects, and creating local jobs;

Calls on the Commission to send to Parliament and make publicly available the minutes and conclusions of the meetings of the Joint Committee provided for in Article 9 of the Agreement, the multiannual sectoral programme provided for in Article 4 of the Protocol, and the findings of the annual evaluations; calls on the Commission to enable representatives of Parliament to attend Joint Committee meetings as observers and to encourage the participation of Côte d’Ivoire fishing communities;

10.

Calls on the Commission and the Council, acting within the limits of their powers, to keep Parliament immediately and fully informed at every stage of the procedures relating to the Protocol and, if applicable, its renewal, pursuant to Article 13(2) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 218(10) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

11.

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Government and Parliament of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.

(1) Texts adopted, P8_TA(2019)0063.