Considerations on COM(2017)463 - EU position at the next three meetings of the International Whaling Commission including related inter-sessional meetings and actions - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2017)463 - EU position at the next three meetings of the International Whaling Commission including related inter-sessional meetings ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2017)463  |
| date | September 4, 2017 |
(2) A Schedule that governs the conduct of whaling throughout the world is annexed to the Convention as an integral part of it. It provides for detailed whaling regulations with respect to the conservation and utilisation of whale resources. Its provisions and amendments thereto adopted by the IWC are binding on Parties unless a Party formally objects to an amendment in accordance with Article V(3) of the ICRW.
(3) As a result of a Schedule amendment agreed by the majority of countries represented in the IWC, a moratorium on commercial whaling entered into force in 1986. Leading whaling States have consistently contested the moratorium and still carry out whaling for what they call scientific purposes or under other exceptions.
(4) It is appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on behalf of the Union in the IWC as decisions to amend the Schedule adopted within the IWC may have legal effects and affect the achievement of the objectives of policies and legislation of the Union in relation to cetaceans. Some of the proposals regularly put forward for decision at meetings of the IWC aim at authorising whaling activities, through the establishment of quotas and the application of management measures, or at the setting up of whale sanctuaries, and require the establishment of a position of the Union.
(5) Membership of the IWC is only open to governments. Currently, twenty-five Member States of the European Union are parties to the IWC 32 . The European Union has observer status at the IWC and is represented by the Commission.
(6) The Union being an observer at the IWC, the position to be taken on behalf of the Union in relation to matters within its exclusive competence based on Article 3(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union because they may affect common rules or alter their scope, should be decided by the Council and expressed by the Member States acting jointly in the interest of the Union.
(7) In order to strengthen the Union's position in the context of the IWC, any revision of the (ICRW allowing the possibility for the Union to become a Party to the IWC should be supported.
(8) Annex IV of Council Directive 92/43/EEC 33 lists all cetaceans as species of Union interest in need of strict protection. Therefore, all whale species are protected from deliberate disturbance, capture or killing within Union waters. The same Directive also prohibits the keeping, transport and sale or exchange, and offering for sale or exchange, of specimens taken from the wild.
(9) Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 34 , which implements the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in the Union, bans the introduction of cetaceans into the Union for primarily commercial purposes. In addition, Council Regulation (EEC) No 348/81 35 only allows imports of certain products listed in its Annex if they are not to be used for commercial purposes.
(10) Whales are migratory species. Consequently, Union policies and legislation relating to whales will be more effective within Union waters if backed by coherent worldwide action.
(11) The Union supports the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Outcome Document of the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples 36 .
(12) The position of the Union is to be expressed by the Member States of the Union that are members of the International Whaling Commission, acting jointly.