OceanLaw On-Line Paper No. 12, February 2002

The European Community and the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement  

Christopher Hedley
Director, OceanLaw; Editor, IGIFL

Abstract
The European Community is a major distant water fishing entity. Not surprisingly, therefore, it was one of the leading participants when the UN Fish Stocks Agreement was negotiated between 1993-1995. Upon adoption of the agreement, it expressed its firm commitment to sign and then ratify the Agreement. This was to be done simultaneously with its 15 Member States, as it had been determined by the EC Council that the Agreement was one in which competence was shared with the Member States. The apparent commitment of the EC and its 15 Member States to ratify the agreement created optimism amongst the international community that (the 15 Member States making up half the total number of States required to bring the agreement into force) the Fish Stocks Agreement could be brought into force quickly, perhaps within two years of its adoption. More than six years after its adoption, however, the EC and its Member States have yet to ratify the agreement. The only exception to this is the United Kingdom, which has been able to ratify the Agreement in respect of certain overseas territories but not in respect of its European Community territory. This article seeks to examine the position of the European Community in the negotiation and conclusion of the Agreement; to explain the international and European legal aspects of its participation in the Agreement; and to consider its current position as regards ratification.
Originally published in [2002] International Fisheries Bulletin, Focus, No. 1