General Information News Archives 01/12/06 - European Parliament approves Cape Verde-EU fishing accord
| 01/12/06 - European Parliament approves Cape Verde-EU fishing accord |
|
|
|
 The new fishing accord between Cape Verde and the European Union was voted uupon yesterday in the European Parliament. More than 120 legislators either voted against the accord or abstained, while the vast majority - 374 - approved the document, which attributes 84 tuna fishing licenses in Cape Verdean waters to European Union fishing vessels. Seven of the 84 vessels are Portuguese.
The text of the accord was elaborated by technical groups from the European Union and the Cape Verdean government, and was originally supposed to go into effect on September 1. There were delays, however, in the fulfillment of a number of administrative formalities (the translation of the document in to various different languages, for example) on the part of Brussels. With the accord now approved, a new date will be set for it to go into effect. According to a European Parliament report, 374 voted in favor of the accord and 67 against, while 49 abstained. The accord stipulates that Cape Verde will open its territorial waters to European Union fishing vessels, issuing 84 tuna fishing licenses to European boats, including seven from Portugal. In exchange, the EU will finance the fishing sector in Cape Verde with 385,000 euros annually until August 2011. The accord also calls for the integration of Cape Verdean fishermen on the ships’ crews.
Source A semana |