Council Decision (EU) 2015/674 of 20 April 2015 on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Union, of the amended Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean

What it is

to conclude an amended Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: The European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: the Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), under the provisions of Article XIV of the FAO constitution, was approved by the FAO Conference in 1949 and entered into force in 1952. Amendments to this Agreement were approved in 1963, 1976 and 1997. The European Community acceded to the GFCM on 16 June 1998 through Decision 98/416/EC. PURPOSE: to conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, the amended Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. The European Community became a contracting party to the GFCM through the adoption of Decision 98/416/EC by the Council. On 15 November 2013, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate, on behalf of the Union, amendments to the Agreement on matters falling within the Union's competence. Negotiations were successfully concluded at the GFCM meeting of 19 to 24 May 2014 and the contracting parties endorsed, by consensus, the text of an amended Agreement. The amended Agreement is in line with the principles of the Union's Common Fisheries Policy. It is therefore in the Union's interest to approve it. CONTENT: under this proposed Decision, the Council is requested to conclude the amended Agreement establishing the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean on behalf of the Union. The text of the amended Agreement is attached to this Decision. The purpose of the amendments to the Agreement is to modernise the GFCM and reinforce its role in the conservation of fisheries resources in its area of competence. The objectives, general principles and functions of the GFCM have been reviewed and broadened to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of living marine resources and their environment. For further details of the amended Agreement, please refer to the summary of the Commission’s initial legislative proposal dated 23/09/2014 . The Committee on Fisheries adopted the report by Gabriel MATO (EPP, ES) on the draft Council decision on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Union, of the amended Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). The committee recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the conclusion of the amended Agreement. The European Parliament adopted by 642 votes to 27, with 37 abstentions, a legislative resolution of the European Parliament on the draft Council decision on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Union, of the amended Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). The European Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the amended Agreement. The amendment approved at the GFCM 38 Annual Session on 19-24 May 2014…

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