Council Decision (EU) 2020/765 of 29 May 2020 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Protocol to amend the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

What it is

to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, of the Protocol to amend the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. BACKGROUND: the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT Convention) aims, by establishing the ICCAT, to promote cooperation in maintaining the populations of tuna and tuna-like fish in the Atlantic Ocean at levels that permit the maximum sustainable catch for food and other purposes. The Convention entered into force on 21 March 1969. The Union is a party to the Convention, having approved it pursuant to the Council Decision of 9 June 1986. From 2013 to 2018, discussions took place within the ICCAT Commission on the changes that are needed to the Convention. As a result, a Protocol has been drafted to amend to the Convention. The Protocol amending ICCAT, once signed (and provisionally applied from the date of its entry into force for other Contracting Parties, pending its entry into force for the Union), must now be approved. The European Parliament adopted by 667 votes to 2, with 13 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Protocol to amend the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. Following the recommendation of the Committee on Fisheries, the European Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the Protocol. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is the body set up by the ICCAT Convention for the conservation and management of species under its competence. After nearly seven years of negotiations, the ICCAT parties have approved the package of amendments to the ICCAT Convention and thus modernised the text. These amendments bring the convention into line with those of other regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) around the world. In particular, the amendments will significantly improve ICCAT's ability to manage shark fisheries and modernise ICCAT's working methods and decision-making procedures to strengthen the organisation and ensure that it is more effective and ready to meet current and future challenges.

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