Press Release: EU and Norway agree on closer collaboration on fisheries control

On 4 October 2006 representatives of the European Commission, on behalf of the European Union, and of the government of Norway met in Oslo to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries. The text sets out a framework for mutual control and enforcement between EU Member States and Norway which will not only facilitate the management of shared fish stocks, but will also make a major contribution to both parties' fight against Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing. Under the Common Fisheries Policy, control and enforcement remain the responsibility of the EU Member States, and a number of Member States have bilateral cooperation arrangements in this field with Norway. The purpose of the Memorandum is therefore to establish common guidelines for such arrangements which will ensure a practical approach to the control of both EU and Norwegian vessels in the waters of the other party. Future bilateral arrangements will be based on the terms of the MoU, and existing arrangements will be modified if necessary to take these new criteria into account.