This proposal concerns a Decision establishing the position to be taken on the behalf of the European Union at meetings of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Programme for the period 2024-2028 in connection with the envisaged adoption of measures.
2.1.Antigua Convention and International Dolphin Conservation Programme
The Convention for the Strengthening of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission established by the 1949 Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of Costa Rica (Antigua Convention) aims, by establishing the IATTC, to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fish stocks covered by the Antigua Convention. The Antigua Convention entered into force on 10 October 2008.
The Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Programme (IDCP Agreement) aims, by establishing the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP, progressively to reduce incidental dolphin mortality in the area covered by the Antigua Convention area to levels approaching zero. Under Article XIV of the Antigua Convention, the IATTC is to play an integral role in coordinating the implementation of the Agreement and in implementing the measures adopted under the framework of the AIDCP. The Agreement entered into force on 15 February 1999.
The EU is a party to the IATTC and the AIDCP, having approved the Antigua Convention and the AIDCP under Council Decisions 2006/539/EC 1 and 2005/938/EC 2 respectively.
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2.2.Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and Meeting of the Parties to the Dolphin Conservation Programme
The IATTC is the body established by the Antigua Convention to be responsible for managing and conserving the fishery resources in the Antigua Convention area. It adopts conservation and management measures to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fish stocks covered by the Convention.
The Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP is the body established by the AIDCP to ensure the long-term sustainability of living marine resources associated with purse-seine tuna fisheries in the Antigua Convention area. The IATTC has significant responsibilities for the implementing measures adopted by the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP, and provides the secretariat of the AIDCP.
Measures adopted by the IATTC and the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP may become binding on the EU.
As a member of the IATTC and the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP, the EU is entitled to participate in, and vote on, its decisions. The IATTC and the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP take their decisions by consensus.
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2.3.Decisions adopted by the IATTC and the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP
The IATTC has the authority to adopt conservation and management measures (‘resolutions’) for the fisheries for which it is responsible, and these are binding on the contracting parties.
In accordance with Article IX.7 of the Antigua Convention, resolutions enter into force 45 days after the date on which the contracting parties are notified of them by the IATTC.
The Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP has the authority to adopt decisions to achieve the objectives of the AIDCP. Such decisions are binding on the contracting parties upon adoption.
3.Position to be taken on the EU’s behalf
The position to be adopted on behalf of the EU at the annual meetings of regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) is currently established according to a two‑tier approach. A Council Decision sets out the guiding principles of the EU’s position on a multiannual basis and it is subsequently adjusted for each annual meeting by Commission services non‑papers to be endorsed by the Council.
For the IATTC, this approach is implemented by Council Decision (EU) 2019/812 of 14 May 2019, which sets out the EU’s position in the IATTC and the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP for the period 2019-2023. The Decision contains general principles, but also takes into account, as far as possible, the specific features of the IATTC and the AIDCP. In addition, it sets out the standard process for establishing the EU’s position year by year, as requested by Member States.
Council Decision (EU) 2019/812 incorporated the principles of the new common fisheries policy, as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council 3 , also taking into account the objectives set out in the Commission Communication on the external dimension of the common fisheries policy 4 . Moreover, it adjusted the EU’s position to the Treaty of Lisbon.
Council Decision (EU) 2019/812 provides for an assessment, and where appropriate, a revision of the EU’s position before the 2024 annual meeting. Therefore, this proposal sets out the EU’s position in the IATTC for the period 2024‑2028, thereby replacing Council Decision (EU) 2019/812.
The current revision takes into consideration, in relation to fishing, the European Green Deal, notably Biodiversity 5 , Climate Adaptation 6 and Farm to Fork Strategies 7 . It also takes into account the Plastics Strategy 8 and the Zero pollution Action Plan 9 . Furthermore, it also takes into consideration, the International Ocean Governance Joint Communication 10 .
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4.Legal basis
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4.1.Procedural legal basis
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4.1.1.Principles
Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the EU’s behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement’.
‘Acts having legal effects’ include acts that have legal effects by virtue of the rules of international law governing the body in question, and instruments that do not have a binding effect under international law, but are ‘capable of decisively influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’ 11 .
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4.1.2.Application to this case
The IATTC and the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP are bodies set up by an agreement, namely the Antigua Convention and the AIDCP.
The acts that the IATTC and the Meeting of the Parties to the AIDCP are called on to adopt constitute acts having legal effects. The envisaged acts are to be binding under international law in accordance with Article IX of the Antigua Convention and Article VII of the AIDCP, and are capable of decisively influencing the content of EU legislation, including:
·Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing 12 ;
·Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy 13 ;
·Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets 14 ; and
·Regulation (EU) 2021/56 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 January 2021 laying down management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Convention area and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 520/2007 15 .
The envisaged acts do not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the Antigua Convention or the AIDCP.
Therefore, the procedural legal basis for the proposed Decision is Article 218(9) TFEU.
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4.2.Substantive legal basis
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4.2.1.Principles
The substantive legal basis for a Decision under Article 218(9) TFEU depends primarily on the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is taken on the EU’s behalf. If that act pursues two aims or has two components, and if one of those aims or components is identifiable as the main one (whereas the other is merely incidental), the Decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component.
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4.2.2.Application to the present case
The main objective and content of the envisaged act relate to fisheries. The legal basis setting out the principles to be reflected in this position is Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
Therefore, the substantive legal basis of the proposed Decision is Article 43i TFEU. The Decision will replace Council Decision (EU) 2019/812, which covers the period 2019-2023.
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4.3.Conclusion
The legal basis of the proposed Decision should be Article 43i TFEU, in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU.
