REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain Regulations in the field of fisheries and animal health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte with regard to the Union

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain Regulations in the field of fisheries and animal health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte with regard to the Union

(COM(2013)0417 – C7‑0175/2013 – 2013/0191(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2013)0417),

–  having regard to Article 294(2) and Articles 43(2) and 168(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0175/2013),

–  having regard to Article 349 and 355(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs on the proposed legal basis,

–  having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 18 September 2013[1],

–  having regard to Rules 55 and 37 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries and the opinion of the Committee on Regional Development (A7-0425/2013),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

• [1]  Not yet published in the Official Journal.

BACKGROUND of Commission proposal:

By Decision 2012/419/EU, the European Council amended the status of Mayotte with regard to the Union with effect from 1 January 2014. Therefore, from that date Mayotte will cease to be an overseas territory to become an outermost region within the meaning of Articles 349 and 355(1) TFEU.

This proposal follows the examination of requests made by the French authorities to have the Union acquis amended through specific measures applicable to Mayotte in different areas, such as fisheries and animal health. The examination of the situation regarding Mayotte has revealed that it is necessary to protect the sensitive biological situation of its waters. In certain respects, France needs additional time to comply with the Union acquis with regard to Mayotte.

In view of the specific situation in Mayotte, the Commission is proposing amendments to certain Regulations in the fields of fisheries and animal health.

In the area of fisheries, the proposed amendments aim to:

include the waters around Mayotte and to prohibit the use of purse-seines on tuna and tuna-like schools of fish inside the area within 24 miles from the baselines of the island in order to preserve the shoals of large migratory fish in the vicinity of the island of Mayotte;

grant additional time to France to comply with the Union acquis with regard to Mayotte, in particular in regard to the registering and control obligations in the area of fisheries, to the extent it concerns certain vessels dispersed around the island and not associated to a specific landing site.

In the area of animal health, it is proposed to amend Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council in order to grant France a transitional period of five years in regard to Mayotte, which would enable it to create the infrastructure necessary for the identification, handling, transport, treatment and disposal of animal by-products.

The proposal has no budgetary implications.

Fisheries sector in Mayotte

The exclusive economic zone ( ZEE) of Mayotte is since January, 2010 a marine natural reserve ( PNM) endowed with a management committee.

The Marine Natural Parc of Mayotte is one of the most beautiful in the world, with a lagoon of 1100km2 (four times the size of the emerged land of Mayotte), with 195 km of reef on 210km of coast, with 250 coral species listed, with 7,3 km2 of Mangroves and as many of herbariums, with 2300 marine species including 760 species of fish, with about 20 mammal marine species (that is to say 1/4 of the world biodiversity), with the permanent presence of 2 species of turtle (hawksbill sea turtles that are critical endangered sea turtles, and green sea turtles) and of many egg-laying sites.

With an exclusive economic zone (ZEE) of 68 000 km ², Mayotte has an important potential for the small scale fishery sector. The small-scale fishery mainly dedicated to a food-producing fishing is mainly auto consumption oriented, and need more investment from the EU in the 2014-2020 CFP in order to modernise the small and medium ships as well as the conditions of and the equipment for the landing of the fishing products.

The tuna industrial fishing operated by seine vessels negatively impacts both the Marine Natural Park of Mayotte and the small-scale fisheries of Mayotte. Seine vessels come, catch all the fish they can without taking care of what they will leave for small fishers and go. If no precise and in-depth statistical data concerning the production and the stock status of the various fisheries existing in Mayotte are available, the testimonies of fishermen and the simple long-term observation of the Marine Natural Park give evidence that the lagoon is over-exploited and that it is necessary to implement protective measures in the Marine Natural Park of Mayotte.

Aquaculture products constitute the first export of the island in volume. Because of the exceptional natural conditions and of an accent put on the quality of the product, Mayotte has a good growth potential, in a context of rarefaction of the halieutic resources. Nevertheless, this sector still needs support to develop.

The marketing of the fish remains few structured and more investment under the 2014-2020 CFP is needed in order to modernise boats, infrastructures and transportation facilities of the fishing products.

Rapporteur’s point of view on the Commission proposal

Regarding the legal base, Article 349 of the TFEU, since Mayotte is an Outermost Region, is adequately applicable to this proposal and should be added.

As regards Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organism, the rapporteur proposes to prohibit the use of purse-seines within the full Marine Natural Park of Mayotte. In order to protect local sustainable small-scale fisheries this prohibition should be restricted to vessels of more than 12 meters.

It is important to increase the resources for small-scale fishery, to promote their profitability and assure the necessary conditions of safety.

Bigger tuna seine vessels target mainly the bonito (Katsuwonus pelamis) and the yellow fin tuna (Thunnus albacares). The mahorais fishermen noticed a reduction of the size and the free number of benches in waters of Mayotte, even if the evaluations of the CTOI do not describe these stocks as over-exploited on the scale of the Indian Ocean, it results from it a tension on the resource, a negative environmental impact on the Marine Natural Park of Mayotte, and a negative impact on small-scale fishery.

Local ecosystems undergo diverse pressures due to the human activities (pollution, erosion, fishing, etc.). Fishermen thus have a role to play to protect fragile natural resources. To adapt the fishing pressure to the available resources, it means not taking more than the capacities of renewal of the resources. It implies a regular monitoring of fisheries, fishing effort and captures, as well on coral reef ecosystems situated within the Park. The adjustment of the fishing capacity to the resource has to be a major goal of the Park.

As regards Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 of 17 December 1999 the rapporteur highlights that a lot has still to be made. In Mayotte, the fishing industry is weakly organized. It needs support and accompaniment. It’s important to better structure the network of marketing. The sector has to improve sanitary aspects of the sale and the processing and to assure an higher regularity of the supplies.

The mahoraise aquaculture sector is young and in phase of structuring. The increase of the production volume rests essentially on the commercial success on export markets, today strongly penalized by the cost of the air transport.

As regards Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002, the rapporteur reminds that Mayotte has the status of department only since 2011. The registration of the mahorais fishing vessels in the national register fleet is in progress, as well as the standardisation of the fishing vessels.

It is necessary to allow the modernization of mahoraise fleet in order to allow fishing outside the lagoon where resources are less fragile that in the lagoon, as well as to improve security and working conditions.

As regards management of fishing fleets registered in the Community outermost regions, the rapporteur underlines the fragile and artisanal nature of mahoraise fleet (boats under 7 meters and only few boats of more than 9 meters) and the lack of sufficient harbour facilities for fishing activities. Captures are directly landed on beaches. The rapporteur underlines the necessity to help the development of these infrastructures.

Mr Gabriel Mato Adrover

Chair

Committee on Fisheries

BRUSSELS

Subject:  Opinion on the legal basis of the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain Regulations in the field of fisheries and animal health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte with regard to the Union [COM(2013)0417]

Dear Chair,

At the meeting on 14 October 2013, JURI adopted an opinion to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on the legal basis on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council amending certain Directives in the fields of environment, agriculture, social policy and public health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte with regard to the Union [COM(2013)0418].

The conclusion of that opinion was that the Council had chosen an incorrect legal basis and JURI therefore decided to recommend to the President to initiate a case in the Court of Justice in order to ensure that the correct legal basis would be used for the proposal. In its recommendation JURI also reserved the right to follow this up with recommendations concerning related legislative acts concerning the status of Mayotte.

At its meeting 5 November 2013, JURI therefore adopted opinions on its own initiative in accordance with Rule 37(3) of the Rules of Procedure concerning the legal bases of three additional legislative proposals concerning Mayotte which are being treated in different committees, including the above proposal in the Committee on Fisheries.

I - Background

Following a referendum in 2009, the then French overseas community Mayotte, located north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, became an overseas department of France as from 31 March 2011, and by letter of 26 October 2011[1], the President of France therefore asked the President of the European Council to initiate the procedure in accordance with Article 355(6) TFEU to adopt a decision amending the status of Mayotte under the EU Treaties from an overseas country or territory to an outermost region. The letter also referred to Declaration No 43 on Article 355(6) TFEU, which has the following wording:

The High Contracting Parties agree that the European Council, pursuant to Article 355(6), will take a decision leading to the modification of the status of Mayotte with regard to the Union in order to make this territory an outermost region within the meaning of Article 355(1) and Article 349, when the French authorities notify the European Council and the Commission that the evolution currently under way in the internal status of the island so allows.

After consulting the Commission[2] in accordance with Article 355(6) TFEU, the European Council therefore on 12 July 2012 unanimously adopted the above-mentioned Decision.

Article 1 of the Decision states that Mayotte, with effect from 2014, shall cease to be an overseas country or territory, to which the provisions of Part Four of the TFEU apply, and shall become an outermost region of the Union within the meaning of Article 349 TFEU. Article 2 has the follow wording:

Article 2

The TFEU shall be amended as follows:

(1)in the first paragraph of Article 349, the word 'Mayotte' shall be inserted after the word 'Martinique';

(2)in Article 355(1), the word 'Mayotte' shall be inserted after the word 'Martinique';

(3)in Annex II, the sixth indent shall be deleted.

This Decision has the same structure and was adopted using the same procedure as a European Council Decision adopted in 2010 on the change of status of the French Caribbean island of Saint-Barthélemy from outermost region to overseas country or territory.[3]

It should however be noted that neither of the amendments of the wording of the TFEU in accordance with these two European Council Decisions are reflected in the last consolidated version of the TFEU, which was published on 26 October 2012[4]. They are however included in the Council's own consolidated version of the text[5].

On 14 October 2013, JURI adopted the above-mentioned opinion to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety which included the conclusion that the Council had chosen an incorrect legal basis.[6] JURI therefore decided to recommend to the President to initiate a case in the Court of Justice in order to ensure that the correct legal basis would be used for the proposal, and to recommend that Parliament should not take any action concerning European Council Decision 2012/419/EU amending the Treaty. In its recommendation JURI also reserved the right to follow this up with recommendations concerning related legislative acts concerning the status of Mayotte.

At its meeting on 5 November 2013, JURI therefore verified the legal basis of three additional legislative proposals, including the proposal below for which the Committee on Fisheries is the lead committee.

II - The legal basis of the proposal to amend certain Regulations in the field of fisheries and animal health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte with regard to the Union

The proposal

The objective of the Regulation proposed by the Commission is to grant France a transitional period in order to facilitate the full application of provisions in secondary legislation in the field of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and animal health as regards Mayotte. When the Commission presented the proposal in PECH on 17 October 2013, it was highlighted that these measures were proposed against the background of the fragile natural environment and the economic underdevelopment of Mayotte.

The proposed legal bases

The Commission is basing its proposal on Articles 43(2) and 168(4) TFEU on measures for the pursuit of the objectives of the CFP and measures in order to meet common public health safety concerns, respectively. The procedure to be followed under both these articles is the ordinary legislative procedure. The Council is however again proposing to change the legal basis to Article 349 TFEU on specific measures for outermost regions.

Analysis

While there are proposed provisions in the proposed Regulation which could be considered as specific measures in derogation of the otherwise applicable EU law in Mayotte (the Legal Service mentions Article 4 on the management of fishing fleets as an example), and as such qualify for having Article 349 TFEU as its legal basis, those provisions must however be considered as merely incidental in relation to the other proposed measures, which are not proposed due to any outermost region characteristics.[7] The proposal therefore aims at measures in pursuit of the objectives of the CFP and at meeting common public health safety concerns. The legal basis proposed by the Commission is therefore correct.

III - Conclusion and recommendation

The correct legal basis for the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain Regulations in the field of fisheries and animal health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte with regard to the Union is Articles 43(2) and 168(4) TFEU.

At its meeting of 5 November 2013 the Committee on Legal Affairs accordingly decided, unanimously[8], to take the position that the legal basis proposed by the Council, Article 349 TFEU, is incorrect, and that the legal basis proposed by the Commission is correct.

On this basis, the Committee on Legal Affairs therefore also decided to recommend to the President of the Parliament, in accordance with Rule 128 of the Rules of Procedure, to bring a case to the Court of Justice, once the decision of the Council to request Parliament's opinion has been published in the Official Journal, in order to safeguard Parliament's prerogatives in accordance with Article 13(2) TEU.

Yours sincerely,

Klaus-Heiner Lehne

• [1]  See Council document EUCO 114/11 of 15 November 2011.
• [2]  C(2012) 3506 final, available in Council document 11006/12.
• [3]  European Council Decision 2010/718/EU of 29 October 2010 on amending the status with regard to the European Union of the island of Saint-Barthélemy (OJ L 325, 9.12.2010, p. 4).
• [4]  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2012:326:FULL:EN:PDF.
• [5]  http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st06/st06655-re07.en08.pdf.
• [6]  See the letter of 16 October 2013 from Mr Lehne to Mr Groote.
• [7]  See Case C-411/06 Commission v. Parliament and Council (8 September 2009) (OJ C 267 of 07.11.2009, p.8), paras. 46-47.
• [8]  The following were present for the final vote: Baldassarre (Vice-Chair), Luigi Berlinguer, Sebastian Valentin Bodu (Vice-Chair), Françoise Castex (Vice-Chair), Christian Engström, Marielle Gallo, Giuseppe Gargani, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Sajjad Karim, Klaus-Heiner Lehne (Chair), Eva Lichtenberger, Antonio Masip Hidalgo, Alajos Mészáros, Bernhard Rapkay, Evelyn Regner (Vice-Chair), József Szájer, Rebecca Taylor, Alexandra Thein, Cecilia Wikström, Zbigniew Ziobro, Tadeusz Zwiefka.

16.10.2013for the Committee on Fisherieson the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain Regulations in the field of fisheries and animal health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte with regard to the Union(COM(2013)0417 – C7‑0175/2013 – 2013/0191(COD))Rapporteur: Patrice Tirolien

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

By Decision 2012/419/EU, the European Council amended the status of Mayotte with regard to the Union with effect from 1 January 2014. Therefore, from that date Mayotte will cease to be an overseas territory, becoming an outermost region within the meaning of Articles 349 and 355(1) TFEU, and Union law will, in principle, apply in full.

However, in recognition of what this change of status will entail for Mayotte, the Commission has submitted to Parliament and the Council proposals for a number of legislative derogations that will enable the EU acquis to be phased in over an appropriate period of time.

The proposal before us sets out a number of derogations relating to the organisation, funding and control of Mayotte’s fisheries. It was drawn up in close cooperation with the French Government with a view to ensuring that the acquis is phased in as swiftly as the specific conditions in Mayotte – in particular the economic and social constraints obtaining in outermost regions, as referred to in Article 349 of the TFEU – allow.

Your rapporteur accordingly deplores the failure to include Article 349 TFEU among the legal bases for this proposal, given that the measures put forward and the justifications given for them are fully in keeping with that article’s aims. Its inclusion is essential in order to secure the proposed measures’ status as derogations.

A number of adjustments also need to be made to take better account of Mayotte’s specific requirements as regards increasing fishing effort. The ceilings set by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), of which the EU is a contracting party, must remain a key means of controlling fishing capacity.

Lastly, your rapporteur considers that any disparities between the Commission proposal and the amended regulations, which are themselves in the process of being finalised in interinstitutional negotiations, need to be addressed. Although it is not possible to update the references at this stage in the procedure, your rapporteur is proposing that a number of provisions should be harmonised.

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Regional Development calls on the Committee on Fisheries, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following amendments in its report:

PROCEDURE