Coherence between Fisheries Agreements and EC Country Development Programmes

This project looked to evaluate the coherence between third country fisheries   agreements with ACP countries, under the umbrella of the Common Fisheries   Policy, and EU Development policy as represented by the ACP Country and   Regional Programmes mediated by DG DEV.  The evaluation was based around critical questions regarding coherence   and potential conflict between EU fisheries policy and EU development policy   and aid commitment. An initial analysis of all ACP fishing agreements was   carried out for both financial and non-financial benefits to the recipient   countries together with the measure of the relative involvement of Member   States. The EU Country and Regional Programmes were also analysed for support   and benefits they provide to the fisheries sector as well to see the overall   priorities of EU development strategy in the country. From these and   interviews with European stakeholders, the potential points at issue, drawn   from the evaluation questions, including the issues relating to the impact of   fisheries agreements, were identified. These issues were examined directly by  country visits to representative ACP states with different types of   agreements and differing degrees of vulnerability and poverty.

Those countries were Mauritania, Senegal, Seychelles and Madagascar with regional meetings with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (Seychelles) and other RFO’s.  With the direct information obtained including such features as relative scale of benefits, direction of the benefits, in-country capacities, destination of targeted funds, the status and sustainability of the fish stocks involved, it was possible to compare the relative intentions and impacts of fisheries agreements and development assistance to the nation and the fishing countries. In the final evaluation of the relationships between the two policies, critical features tended to revolve around questions of sustainability, information gathering, capacity, and the negotiation process

At the close of the project, a series of presentations were presented to the EU steering committee (AidCo Evaluation Unit), composing of representatives from DG FISH, DG DEV, DG RELEX, AidCo, DG RESEARCH and DG TRADE, in addition to the submission of a Final Technical Report