Proposal for a Council Decision establishing the position to be adopted in the Meeting of the Parties to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA)

By Council Decision 2008/780/EC the European Union approved the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement, which established the Meeting of the Parties to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA). Within the SIOFA, the Meeting of the Parties is responsible for the adoption of measures designed to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in the SIOFA Area and to safeguard the marine eco-systems in which these resources occur. Such measures may become binding upon the Union.

The position to be adopted on behalf of the Union is currently established according to a two tier approach. A Council Decision sets out the guiding principles and orientations of the Union's position on a multiannual basis, thereafter adjusted for each annual Meeting of the Parties by Commission non-papers to be discussed in the Council Working Party.

As regards the Meeting of the Parties to the SIOFA, Council Decision 14404/12 of 5 October 2012 provides for a review of the Union's position before the 2017 annual meeting. This proposal aims at setting out the Union's position within SIOFA for the period 2017-2021 and replacing Council Decision 14404/12, which covers the period 2012-2016.

EUR-Lex: COM(2017)214: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2017:214:FIN

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