mr president commissioner damanaki you are indeed having a busy evening since we have already met in the fisheries committee
firstly i want to offer my thanks to the rapporteurs for these reports and to reiterate the comments of many colleagues here tonight about their concern over the delay in progressing these matters
however i really want to use this opportunity in the house to turn to fisheries agreements in a more general way and to stress the need for cooperation from all of those parties to these agreements
this was outlined by the commissioner when she indicated that agreements require the exercise of responsibility from all those involved
now imagine you have just made a multi-million pound investment in a new state-of-the-art factory which annually produces a high value product from a renewable and sustainable resource to the highest internationally recognised standards
then your neighbour decides to tear up that international agreement and unilaterally declare that they are massively extending their share of the natural resource that your business depends upon
this is exactly what has happened with mackerel and in particular one fishing family from northern ireland
of course i refer to the coastal states agreement between the eu norway iceland and the faroe islands
commissioner we have already heard you and we appreciate the strong stand that you have been taking on this particular issue
we want to recognise your efforts on behalf of these fishermen but we also want to urge both parliament and the commission to stand strong with you as you continue to negotiate a resolution to what is becoming a very difficult and a very fraught situation
