REPORT on the proposal for a Council regulation on the conclusion of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and Côte d’Ivoire

29.2.2008 - (COM(2007)0648 – C6‑0429/2007 – 2007/0226(CNS)) - *

Committee on Fisheries
Rapporteur: Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a Council regulation on the conclusion of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and Côte d’Ivoire

(COM(2007)0648 – C6‑0429/2007 – 2007/0226(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the proposal for a Council regulation (COM(2007)0648)[1],

–   having regard to Article 37 and Article 300(2) of the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to Article 300(3), first subparagraph, of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6‑0429/2007),

–   having regard to Rules 51 and 83(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries and the opinions of the Committee on Development and the Committee on Budgets (A6‑0054/2008),

1.  Approves the proposal for a Council regulation as amended and approves conclusion of the agreement;

2.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and Côte d’Ivoire.

Text proposed by the Commission	Amendments by Parliament
Amendment 1 Recital 2 a (new)
	(2a) It is important to improve the information provided to the European Parliament. To this end, the Commission should forward the conclusions of the meetings of the joint committee referred to in Article 9 of the Partnership Agreement.
Justification
Parliament needs to be supplied with proper information so that it can evaluate the agreement.
Amendment 2 Article 3, paragraph 1 a (new)
	1a. The Commission shall evaluate each year whether Member States whose vessels operate under the protocol to the agreement have complied with reporting requirements. Where this is not the case, the Commission shall withhold their requests for fishing licences for the following year.
Justification
Vessels that do not comply with the most basic requirement, reporting what they catch, should not benefit from financial support from the EU.
Amendment 3 Article 3 a (new)
	Article 3a
	The Commission shall report annually to the European Parliament and the Council on the results of the multiannual sectoral programme described in Article 7 of the protocol as well as on compliance by the Member States with reporting requirements.
Justification
In order to evaluate whether the compensation paid by the EU is properly accounted for and does in fact promote the sustainable use of fishery resources in Côte d'Ivoire, the Commission should report annually to Parliament.
Amendment 4 Article 3 b (new)
	Article 3b
	During the final year of the protocol's validity and before another agreement is concluded on its renewal, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the application of the agreement and the conditions under which it was implemented.
Justification
Before any new agreement is concluded, the Commission should ask the authorities of the country with which it is opening negotiations to provide it with information on the basis of which it will submit a general assessment report to Parliament and the Council.
Amendment 5 Article 3 c (new)
	Article 3 c
	On the basis of the report referred to in Article 3a and after consulting the European Parliament, the Council shall, where appropriate, grant the Commission a negotiating mandate with a view to the adoption of a new protocol.
Justification
Parliament and the Council will be able to discharge their respective duties only on the basis of the evaluation report on the application of the fisheries agreement.
Amendment 6 Article 3 d (new)
	Article 3 d
	The Commission shall forward to the European Parliament the conclusions of the meetings of the joint committee referred to in Article 9 of the Partnership Agreement.

• [1]  Not yet published in OJ

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

On 5 April 2007 the Community negotiated and initialled a fisheries partnership agreement with the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire which provides Community fishermen with fishing opportunities in Côte d’Ivoire’s waters.

The Commission proposal presents the substance of the new fisheries agreement between the European Union and Côte d’Ivoire, together with the substance of the protocol and the annex thereto. The agreement is to apply for a period of six years from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2013. On the date of its entry into force, the agreement will repeal and replace the fisheries agreement between the European Economic Community and Côte d’Ivoire on fishing in the country’s fishing zone which entered into force on 19 December 1990.

1. Evaluation

The new agreement is based on the results of a study assessing the fisheries sector in Côte d’Ivoire obtained during the mission carried out in Abidjan in March 2006, and on an ex post and ex ante evaluation carried out by independent experts.

The results of the ex post analysis indicate that the previous protocol, laying down fishing opportunities and the financial contribution for the period between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2007, provided guarantees of effectiveness, relevance and viability, since it met the needs of European shipowners, European consumers and the State of Côte d’Ivoire as intended. The analysis also recommends extending the duration of the protocols to five or six years.

The ex ante evaluation of the 2004-2007 protocol shows that utilisation of the agreement was good, concludes that it is desirable for fisheries relations between the two parties to continue and sets out a series of recommendations aimed at minimising the possible negative impacts of the agreement.

2. The Agreement

The fisheries partnership agreement between Côte d’Ivoire and the European Community is in line with the fisheries agreements signed by the Community with a number of West African countries.

The main objective of the new agreement is to strengthen cooperation between the two parties so as to create a partnership framework within which to develop a sustainable fisheries policy and the sound exploitation of living marine resources in Côte d’Ivoire’s fishing zone.

Within this new agreement, special attention is given to supporting the fisheries policy of Côte d’Ivoire. In this context, the two parties will agree on the priorities to be decided upon for such support and will identify the objectives, the annual and multiannual programming and the criteria to assess the results to be obtained, with a view to ensuring a sustainable and responsible management of the sector.

The financial contribution is fixed at EUR 595 000 per year, with payment being due on 30 March 2008 at the latest for the first year and on 1 July for the following years. This contribution will be allocated in full to the support and implementation of initiatives taken in the context of the sectoral fisheries policy drawn up by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire.

The annual reference tonnage is 7000 tonnes. If this tonnage is exceeded, the financial contribution will be increased by EUR 65 for each additional tonne.

Following consultations between the parties and in the event that unusual circumstances occur, payment of the contribution may be reviewed or suspended.

As regards fishing opportunities, the agreement lays down that authorisation to fish will be granted to 25 freezer tuna seiners (10 vessels from France and 15 from Spain) and 15 surface longliners (10 vessels from Spain and 5 vessels from Portugal), provided they are flying the flag of a Member State of the European Community and are in possession of a valid fishing licence issued according to the conditions laid down in the annex.

However, at the request of the Community, exploratory fishing trips may be carried out under the agreement. If they are conclusive and the sustainable management of Côte d’Ivoire’s fishery resources is not jeopardised, the two parties may decide by common agreement to award new fishing opportunities to Community vessels.

The agreement lays down that, in order to operate in Côte d’Ivoire’s waters, Community vessels must meet a series of conditions. Inter alia, they must be in order vis-à-vis the Côte d’Ivoire authorities, the licence application must be submitted by electronic means to the ministry responsible for fisheries in Côte d’Ivoire, the forms and documents listed in the appendix must be submitted and a fee must be paid.

Licences will be issued on payment of EUR 3 850 per tuna seiner and EUR 1 400 per surface longliner and are renewable. The fee has been set at EUR 35 per tonne of fish caught.

A joint committee set up under the agreement will be responsible for monitoring and controlling its application. The protocol also includes a review clause allowing the protocol and the annexes thereto to be amended following its third anniversary if the joint committee considers it necessary.

As already laid down in the previous protocol, the ILO Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work will apply as of right to ACP seamen signed on by EU vessels (freedom of association, collective bargaining and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation).

The number of ACP nationals signed on by tuna seiners and surface longliners has been set at 20% of the seamen signed on during the corresponding fishing season.

The presence of observers on board Community vessels is duly covered in the annex. The vessels concerned will take on board an observer appointed by the competent regional fisheries organisation (RFO), whose task will be to draw up a detailed report on the activities carried out on the vessel.

With regard to technical measures, the annex lays down that vessels must comply with the measures and recommendations adopted by ICCAT for the region.

Community vessels authorised to fish in Côte d’Ivoire waters will be subject to comprehensive monitoring. The Community will keep an up-to-date draft list of vessels to which a fishing licence is issued. The competent Côte d’Ivoire authority will enter the vessels authorised to fish on a second list. Vessels must notify the competent authority when they enter or leave the fishing zone. Measures relating to inspections, the control of activities, satellite monitoring and the boarding of vessels are also laid down in the annex.

In order to protect Côte d’Ivoire’s marine resources, the fishing zone for Community vessels, i.e. tuna seiners and surface longliners, is defined as being located in waters beyond 12 nautical miles from the baselines.

Rapporteur’s remarks

Fisheries relations between the European Union and Côte d’Ivoire go back a long way, starting in the 1990s, when the first framework agreement was signed on fishing in Côte d’Ivoire waters. A succession of protocols has since been signed without any interruptions, each covering three years, the most recent protocol being dated 30 June 2004.

The content of the new agreement negotiated in April 2007 as a framework for bilateral fisheries relations is in line with the new European Union guidelines for fisheries partnership agreements, whose objective is to combine the interests of the European fishing industry, safeguarding its activities and catches of species in demand on our markets, with a real contribution to the development of the third country with which the agreement is being signed, helping to consolidate a local fisheries sector which will contribute to the development and supply of the local population.

The partnership agreements attach particular importance to factors linked to protection for nature, marine resources and the environment, aspects which were not given so much importance in the traditional fisheries agreements, even though they were not completely absent. The fisheries agreement with Côte d’Ivoire brings benefits for both sides.

Even though the European tuna fleet, the beneficiary of this agreement, has an increasingly small presence in the waters off Côte d’Ivoire owing to problems linked to the political instability seen in recent years, it is advisable from a strategic point of view to guarantee the operational availability of the port of Abidjan.

From Côte d’Ivoire's point of view, the signing of the agreement is of immense importance for the country's development. As a consequence of political instability and armed conflict, all the actions hitherto planned for the creation of a local fisheries sector have been either completely stalled or totally ineffective.

The conclusion of the partnership agreement creates the necessary conditions to launch a genuine programme of responsible fishing in Côte d’Ivoire and guarantee the sustainable development of a genuine local sector. It should not be forgotten that, under the terms of the agreement, 100% of the Community contribution, i.e. EUR 595 000 per year, will be dedicated to actions directly linked to the conservation of resources and consolidation of the local sector.

The creation of a responsible fisheries policy in Côte d’Ivoire means virtually starting from scratch, and Community aid is proving fundamental in order to create a legal framework and set up an institutional apparatus that will be capable of tackling the major challenges ahead. Failure to sign this agreement would cause immense damage to these objectives, since it is more than likely that Côte d’Ivoire would decide to replace the planned income with a system of licences for private shipowners whose modes of operating would be based on purely economic parameters, without being subject to the requirements and modes of operating that characterise responsible fishing.

The existence of the Community fleet in this region favours and may provide a boost for a tuna-canning sector that is highly important for the local population as a source of income and a pole for the creation of jobs. These canning factories, clustered around the port of Abidjan, have suffered a gradual decline with the withdrawal of French canning firms following their sale to international groups. Community catches contribute to the supply of raw material to the sector.

A further fundamental aspect of this agreement is respect for the principles of responsible fishing. The fishing opportunities negotiated by the Community are restricted to highly migratory species: tuna, mainly albacore, skipjack and bigeye, and to a lesser extent swordfish.

The fishing opportunities negotiated in the agreement correspond to the fishing carried out by seiners and longliners that fish for these species, which are managed by the RFO, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). According to the latest assessment studies, Community catches of these species and the fishing gear used do not pose any threat to the viability of these stocks.

Conclusion

For the above reasons, it can be concluded that the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire offers benefits for both contracting parties.

If implemented satisfactorily, the fisheries agreement between the European Union and Côte d’Ivoire may provide the basis for a programme for the sustainable development of the country’s fisheries sector. The proper achievement of its objectives will provide support for a local sector that is vital for its economy, that contributes towards food self-sufficiency and generates jobs centred on a tuna-canning industry and on port and supply services for vessels from the fleets operating in the central Atlantic.

OPINION of the Committee on Development (29.1.2008)

for the Committee on Fisheries

on the proposal for a Council regulation on the conclusion of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and Côte d'Ivoire
(COM(2007)0648 – C6‑0429/2007 – 2007/0226(CNS))

Draftsman: Josep Borrell Fontelles

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

The European Union’s development co-operation policy and the common fisheries policy (CFP) must be consistent, complementary and co-ordinated, contributing, as a whole, to poverty reduction and the sustainable development of the countries concerned.

The EU has committed itself to ensuring the sustainability of fisheries worldwide, as defined at the United Nations 2002 summit in Johannesburg, maintaining or restoring stock levels with a view to producing the maximum sustainable yield.

The EU has accepted the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization’s "Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries", to promote long-term sustainable fisheries and to affirm that the right to fish carries with it the obligation to do so in a responsible manner so as to ensure effective conservation and management of the living aquatic resources.

The EU’s presence in distant fishing grounds is a legitimate objective, but it must be recalled that the interest of European Union's fisheries ought to be protected alongside the interest in developing the nations with which fisheries agreements are signed.

The European Parliament’s Development Committee welcomes the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly resolution of 22 June 2006 on “Fisheries and their social and environmental aspects in developing countries", in particular in so far as it considers that the protection of EU and ACP fishing interests must be coordinated with the sustainable management of fishery resources in economic, social and environmental terms on the one hand, and with the livelihoods of coastal communities dependent on fisheries on the other.

The European Parliament’s Development Committee further stresses the reference made in the ACP-EU Fisheries Partnership Agreement to the observation of the Cotonou Agreement; insists that full account must be taken of Article 9 of the Cotonou Agreement on human rights, democratic principles, good governance and the rule of law, and welcomes the guarantees given by the Commission services to the effect that they shall take into consideration the content of Article 9 when negotiating agreements with developing countries, including non-ACP developing countries.

The proposed agreement will repeal and replace the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire which entered into force on 19 December 1990.

The Protocol and the Annex have been concluded for a period of six years from the date on which the appropriate adoption procedures are completed. It shall be tacitly renewed for further six years periods.

The Protocol to the proposed agreement grants fishing possibilities for 25 purse seiners from Spain and France, and for 15 longliners from Spain and Portugal, subject to a total of 40 licences.

The financial contribution is fixed at EUR 445 000 per year against a reference tonnage of 7 000 tonnes per year. A specific amount of EUR 140 000 per year is aimed at supporting and implementing initiatives taken in the context of Côte d’Ivoire’s sectoral fisheries policy.

If the overall quantity of catches by Community vessels in Côte d’Ivoire’s fishing zones exceeds the reference tonnage, the amount of the annual financial contribution shall be increased by EUR 65 for each additional tonne caught.

The European Parliament’s Development Committee welcomes the referred link to national initiatives and hope that they may include the financing to local infrastructure projects of processing and marketing of the fish, thus allowing local populations to go beyond subsistence fisheries.

The European Parliament’s Development Committee also welcomes the fact that the agreement is proposing to support measures for the monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries and that it fosters scientific and technical cooperation with local authorities. The above mentioned ACP-EU resolution considers that scientific resource assessment must be a precondition for access to fishing, and that an annual evaluation of resources must be a condition for obtaining further fishing permits.

The European Parliament’s Development Committee do not endorse the procedure adopted for this agreement because the European Parliament should have played a part in the negotiation mandate, which the Council would have given to the Commission, and should be informed of the development of the negotiations.

Parliament has been consulted about the proposed agreement only in November 2007, seven months after the agreement was initialled, with the aim of coming into effect on 1 July 2007. Parliament should object and should assert that this procedure is not acceptable.

The Commission and the Council must reach an agreement on the conditions that would give the Parliament a real opportunity to be consulted. In the absence of such circumstance, the Committee on Fisheries should lead Parliament’s reaction to the present status quo, including the option of voting against fisheries agreements submitted under present procedure.

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Development calls on the Committee on Fisheries, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following amendments in its report:

Text proposed by the Commission[1]	Amendments by Parliament
Amendment 1 Recital 2 a (new)
	(2a) The Community's financial contribution should be used for the development of coastal populations living on fisheries and the creation of small local fish freezing and processing industries;

PROCEDURE

Title	Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EC and Côte d’Ivoire
References	COM(2007)0648 – C6-0429/2007 – 2007/0226(CNS)
Committee responsible	PECH
Opinion by        Date announced in plenary	DEVE 29.11.2007
Drafts(wo)man        Date appointed	Josep Borrell Fontelles 18.12.2007
Date adopted	29.1.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	32 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Thijs Berman, Josep Borrell Fontelles, Marie-Arlette Carlotti, Corina Creţu, Ryszard Czarnecki, Nirj Deva, Koenraad Dillen, Fernando Fernández Martín, Alain Hutchinson, Romana Jordan Cizelj, Madeleine Jouye de Grandmaison, Filip Kaczmarek, Glenys Kinnock, Maria Martens, Gay Mitchell, Luisa Morgantini, Horst Posdorf, José Ribeiro e Castro, Toomas Savi, Frithjof Schmidt, Jürgen Schröder, Feleknas Uca, Johan Van Hecke, Jan Zahradil
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Sorin Frunzăverde, Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez, Manolis Mavrommatis, Atanas Paparizov, Anne Van Lancker, Ralf Walter, Renate Weber
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote	Catherine Neris

• [1]  Not yet published in OJ.

OPINION of the Committee on Budgets (28.2.2008)

for the Committee on Fisheries

on the proposal for a Council regulation on the conclusion of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and Côte d'Ivoire
(COM(2007)0648 – C6‑0429/2007 – 2007/0226(CNS))

Draftswoman: Helga Trüpel

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

This is a relatively straightforward fisheries partnership agreement allowing EU-flagged vessels access to tuna stocks in the waters of Côte d’Ivoire. It comprises the agreement itself and the associated protocol, which defines the detailed fishing conditions.

Under the protocol, valid for a period of six years from 1 July 2007 through 30 June 2013, a total of 40 vessels may catch up to 7.000 tonnes of tuna in Ivorian waters. The table compares the previous protocol with the current one.

	1 July 2004 through 30 June 2007	1 July 2007 through 30 June 2013
Purse seiners	34 (ES, FR)	25 (ES, FR)
Surface longliners	11 (ES, PT)	15 (ES, PT)
Pole-and-line vessels	3 (FR)	--
Demersal fisheries	1.300 GT per month	--

There are also provisions for exploratory fishing by EU vessels.

The protocol provides that the EU makes a financial contribution to Côte d’Ivoire consisting of two components:

· a financial contribution of €455.000 per year for the 7.000 tonnes of tuna, and

· EU support of €140.000 per year for support of Côte d’Ivoire’s fisheries policy

This total amount of €595,000 is a reduction from €1.065.000 under the previous agreement, given that the possibilities for demersal fisheries have been terminated and fishing for tuna has been reduced from 9.000 tonnes to 7.000 tonnes.

The Budgets Committee should be aware that this amount of €595,000 would increase if the EU vessels catch more than 7.000 tonnes of tuna. For every tonne in excess of the 7.000 that the EU vessels catch, the EU pays €65 per tonne. However, whereas the EU vessels may catch as much tuna as they can (there is no maximum), the protocol does include a maximum financial contribution in any given year of double the figure above, i.e. €1.19 million. If the EU vessels catch more than double the 7.000 tonnes, the Ivorian authorities have to wait until the following year to be paid. For instance: if the EU vessels catch 17.000 tonnes, the EU pays €1.19 million for 14.000 tonnes that year but only pays €196.000 for the remaining 3.000 tonnes the following year. This is a standard feature of these tuna agreements but the fairness of allowing EU vessels to catch more than can be paid for is questionable. Perhaps there should be a limit to catches as well as to the payment.

As is standard practice in Fisheries Partnership Agreements, there are provisions for a multiannual sectoral programme to promote responsible and sustainable fishing in Côte d'Ivoire, including monitoring and control, management of resources, improving hygiene conditions, etc. The protocol states that the entire amount of €595.000 is to be dedicated to this end. Measures taken under the Programme are to be mutually agreed by the Commission and the authorities of Côte d'Ivoire.

The Commission has proposed a new regulation governing the issuance of authorisations for fishing under these third country agreements (COM (2007) 330 final). There would be conditions for issuing licences to vessels under the proposed system, so that vessels that do not report their catches, that have committed a serious infringement under Regulation (EC) No 1447/1999, that are on an IUU list (vessels engaged in illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing, see COM (2007) 602 final) or various other requirements would not be allowed a licence. The Commission is even proposing to be allowed to withhold all licence applications from a given Member State for a particular agreement if that Member State does not fulfil its obligations under the agreement. This being the case, the amendment that the Budgets Committee adopted recently on withholding licence applications for vessels that do not report their catches is well-founded and should be continued.

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Budgets calls on the Committee on Fisheries, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following amendments in its report:

Text proposed by the Commission[1]	Amendments by Parliament
Amendment 1 Article 3, paragraph 1 a (new)
	The Commission shall evaluate each year whether Member States whose vessels operate under the Protocol to the Agreement have complied with reporting requirements. Where this is not the case, the Commission shall withhold their requests for fishing licences for the following year.
Justification
Vessels that do not comply with the most basic requirement, reporting what they catch, should not benefit from financial support from the EU.
Amendment 2 Article 3 a (new)
	Article 3a
	The Commission shall report annually to the European Parliament and the Council on the results of the multiannual sectoral programme described in Article 7 of the Protocol as well as on compliance by the Member States with reporting requirements.
Justification
In order to evaluate whether the compensation paid by the EU is properly accounted for and does in fact promote the sustainable use of fishery resources in Côte d'Ivoire, the Commission should report annually to Parliament.
Amendment 3 Article 3 b (new)
	Article 3b
	Before expiry of the Protocol or the beginning of negotiations for its possible replacement, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council an ex post evaluation of the Protocol, including a cost-benefit analysis.

Justification

An evaluation of the current protocol is necessary before new negotiations begin in order to know what changes, if any, should be included in any possible renewal.

PROCEDURE

Title	Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EC and Côte d’Ivoire
References	COM(2007)0648 – C6-0429/2007 – 2007/0226(CNS)
Committee responsible	PECH
Opinion by        Date announced in plenary	BUDG 29.11.2007
Drafts(wo)man        Date appointed	Helga Trüpel 20.9.2004
Date adopted	27.2.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	15
Members present for the final vote	Reimer Böge, Valdis Dombrovskis, Salvador Garriga Polledo, Ingeborg Gräßle, Catherine Guy-Quint, Jutta Haug, Monica Maria Iacob-Ridzi, Anne E. Jensen, Vladimír Maňka, Jan Mulder, Cătălin-Ioan Nechifor, Theodor Dumitru Stolojan, László Surján, Helga Trüpel, Ralf Walter

• [1]  Not yet published in OJ.

PROCEDURE

Title	Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EC and Côte d’Ivoire
References	COM(2007)0648 – C6-0429/2007 – 2007/0226(CNS)
Date of consulting Parliament	21.11.2007
Committee responsible        Date announced in plenary	PECH 29.11.2007
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)        Date announced in plenary	DEVE 29.11.2007		BUDG 29.11.2007
Rapporteur(s)        Date appointed	Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna 22.11.2007
Discussed in committee	19.12.2007
Date adopted	28.2.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	21 4 0
Members present for the final vote	Alfonso Andria, Elspeth Attwooll, Marie-Hélène Aubert, Iles Braghetto, Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos, Paulo Casaca, Zdzisław Kazimierz Chmielewski, Avril Doyle, Emanuel Jardim Fernandes, Carmen Fraga Estévez, Duarte Freitas, Ioannis Gklavakis, Hélène Goudin, Pedro Guerreiro, Ian Hudghton, Heinz Kindermann, Rosa Miguélez Ramos, Marianne Mikko, Philippe Morillon, Seán Ó Neachtain, Struan Stevenson, Catherine Stihler, Margie Sudre, Cornelis Visser
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Thomas Wise
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote	Francesco Ferrari
Date tabled	29.2.2008