40 Safety of fishing vessels
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6040/13
COM(13) 38
| Draft Council Decision authorising Member States to sign, ratify or accede to the Cape Town Agreement of 2012 on the implementation of the provisions of the 1993 Protocol relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1997
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| Legal base | Articles 100(2), 218(5), 218(6)(a)(v) and 218(8) TFEU; co-decision; QMV
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| Department | Transport
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 21 August 2013
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 86-xxxv (2012-13), chapter 9 (13 March 2013)
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| Discussion in Council | 10 October 2013
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| Committee's assessment | Legally and politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
40.1 In 1977 the Torremolinos International Convention for the
Safety of Fishing Vessels was established under the auspices of
the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Subsequently the
Convention was supplemented by the 1993 Protocol. Council Directive
97/70/EC established a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels.
It requires new fishing vessels of 24 metres and over to comply
with the Protocol. The Directive applies to third country vessels
operating in the waters of or landing catch in the ports of an
EU Member State.
40.2 To date the 1993 Protocol has not yet entered
into force internationally. In order to assist its entry into
force, the IMO identified requirements in the 1993 Protocol that
were seen by some flag States, in particular Japan and China,
as obstacles to ratification. In October 2012 it convened a Diplomatic
Conference to agree amendments to the requirements of the 1993
Protocol to overcome those obstacles to ratification.
40.3 As a result of that conference the Cape Town
Agreement (the Agreement) was adopted by the IMO on 11 October
2012 and is currently open for accessions. The Agreement foresees
the entry into force of the 1993 Protocol 12 months after the
date on which not less than 22 IMO Member States, the aggregate
number of whose fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over
operating on the high seas is not less than 3,600, have expressed
their consent to be bound by it.
40.4 The Commission's draft Council Decision would
authorise Member States to accede to the Agreement and would require
them to be bound by the Agreement within two years from entry
into force of the Decision. Furthermore, the Commission proposed
that, in order to safeguard the additional requirements to the
1993 Protocol incorporated in Council Directive 97/70/EC, Member
States should, when signing and agreeing to be bound by the Agreement,
issue a declaration that:
- the exemptions for vessels
operating in Common Fishing Zones or EEZs and in relation to annual
surveys are excluded from application within the EU; and
- third country vessels operating in the waters
or landing catch at the ports of a Member State shall be subject
to the requirements of Directive 97/70/EC.
The Commission argued that the Agreement is a subject
of exclusive competence of the EU.
40.5 When we considered this proposal last March
we noted the Government's concern about competence creep, although
we thought Article 3(2) TFEU and Directive 97/70/EC make the Commission's
claim of exclusive external competence difficult to undermine.
Whether it is necessary for Member States to ratify the Cape Town
Agreement on behalf of the EU seemed to us, however, open to doubt,
for the reasons the Government gave us. So we asked to know, before
considering the matter further, the outcome of the Government's
consideration of its position on the proposal and of its search
for further evidence of its implications. Meanwhile the document
remained under scrutiny.[142]
The Minister's letter
40.6 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department for Transport (Stephen Hammond) reports that working
group negotiations have resulted in welcome amendments to the
proposal. He reminds us that:
- the original wording of the
proposal was that "Member States shall take the necessary
steps to deposit their instruments of ratification of the Agreement,
or accession to it, with the Secretary General of the IMO without
delay and in any case no later than two years from the date of
entry into force of this decision"; and
- the Government was concerned this might indicate
an intention to extend the competence of the Commission on the
governing articles of the 1993 Protocol, relating to matters such
as the usual obligation to be bound by a convention ("general
obligations under the Convention"), entry into force, ratification
and the adoption of amendments, rather than the technical aspects
of the 1993 Protocol that are incorporated into Council Directive
97/70.
40.7 The Minister tells us that the UK, together
with four other Member States, expressed these reservations to
the Commission. In light of the reservations the Commission presented
the following revised wording:
"Member States shall endeavour to take the
necessary steps to deposit their instruments of ratification of,
or accession to, the Agreement with the Secretary General of the
IMO within a reasonable period and, if possible, no later than
two years from the date of entry into force of this decision"
40.8 The Minister comments that:
- it is now the view of the Government
and the other Member States who expressed their reservations that
the proposal no longer places a requirement on Member States to
ratify the Agreement and as a result no longer looks to extend
Commission competence onto the governing articles of the 1993
Protocol; and
- the Government welcomes this
revised wording, which is understood to be acceptable also to
all other Member States.
40.9 Finally the Minister tells us that no further
working group discussions are anticipated and that he expects
that the proposed Decision will be put to the Transport Council
for agreement on 10 October.
Conclusion
40.10 We are grateful to the Minister for this
account, commend him on the acceptable resolution of the Government's
competence concerns, and now clear the document.
142 See headnote. Back
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