What was the outcome of negotiations on fisheries?
Malta negotiated an arrangement that will allow our country to manage the 25-mile fisheries zone around the coast for conservation purposes.
Over the past 30 years, Malta has managed a fishing zone of 25 miles around the Maltese islands in an effort to conserve fish stocks. And it wants to continue doing so even after membership.
On the other hand, under EU law, member states may keep the first 12 miles from their shores exclusively to their own nationals. But beyond the 12 miles, fishing should be free for all EU fishermen.
So, unless Malta negotiated on this issue, fishermen from EU countries would be able to fish freely in Malta's 25-mile zone, although not in the 12 miles.
This is a concern for Maltese fishermen because neighbouring fishing fleets are known to be better equipped and more technologically advanced. But it is also clear that unrestricted access to the 25-mile zone would harm the sustainability of fish stocks in this ecologically important area.
Following intense negotiations on this issue, the EU accepted that Malta's membership should not lead to a decline in the protection of fish stocks in this zone. Agreement was therefore reached on how the 25-mile zone around Malta would be protected through a policy that manages for conservation purposes the amount of fishing that can be carried out in the area.
The area will be managed by the Maltese authorities in a way that would continue to allow fish stocks around Malta to be fished in a sustainable way. This agreement will be incorporated into EU law and will apply on an indefinite basis.
This is how the zone will be managed. First of all, only vessels smaller than 12 metres will be allowed to fish in the zone so that, in principle, within the zone, only small-scale coastal fishing, which is the least harmful to the natural environment, will be allowed.
This means that for a boat - whether Maltese or from another EU country - to fish in Malta's 25-mile zone it would have to be smaller than 12 metres. But it is known that it is not financially feasible for this size of boats from other countries to do so, if only because of the diesel costs incurred in covering the distance.
Furthermore, certain EU countries have national laws that ban boats of this size from leaving their own national coastal waters. This, therefore, makes it very difficult for their boats to operate in Malta's zone for the simple reason that it is illegal for them to leave their own country's waters.
More importantly, it was established that, within Malta's 25-mile zone, the current fishing effort should not be increased. In other words, no more fishing than what is allowed today.
By way of exception, under the agreement, vessels that are larger than 12 metres will be allowed to carry out some types of fishing activities in the zone.
The first is trawling, which will be allowed under certain conditions and only in certain areas within the zone that are specifically designated as trawlable areas. The maximum size limitation of trawlers has been set at 24 metres.
The second is fishing for lampuki which will be allowed under the limited government permits for fish aggregating devices (FAD's) available today.
The third is lampara, a fishing activity which, in any case, is dying out.
Finally, fishing for tuna, swordfish and other highly migratory fish will be allowed since, being migratory, these species are not a resource of the area. Here it was decided that, after membership, the EU, together with Malta as a member state, will act to ensure sustainable fishing within the zone.
Even with respect to the above exceptions, the principle that, within the zone, the fishing effort should not be increased will apply. So the exceptions cannot work to undermine conservation within the zone.
And since the fishing effort in Malta's 25-mile zone has already reached its maximum sustainable yield and there can be no increase in fishing effort in the zone, a list of all the fishing vessels that have fished in the area will be drawn up. Only fishing boats registered on this list would be allowed to fish in the zone. And there will be no increase in their numbers.
This means that the Maltese authorities will not be granting any new licences for fishing boats and whoever wants to start fishing, whether a Maltese or EU citizen, can only do so if they purchase an existing licence.
However, since the agreed measures are intended not to discriminate between Maltese and EU fishermen, the outcome of negotiations also means that, save for the above exceptions, Maltese fishermen with vessels that are larger than 12 metres will also not be able to fish in the zone. This affects something like 50 vessels, around six per cent of the Maltese fleet.
In order to address this problem, the Maltese government announced that it would provide financial aid to these fishermen in order to help them upgrade their equipment, improve their fishing efficiency and therefore be able to fish outside the zone - where most of the Maltese fish landings are already caught today in any case.
This aid, totalling around two and a half million liri, will be paid from later this year and over a period of 18 months.
Apart from this, funding from the EU will be possible after membership through an EU fund reserved for fisheries. The Maltese authorities prepared a programme to request funding for the modernisation of the Maltese fishing fleet, for the improvement of port facilities and for the improvement at the local fish market, known as the pixkerija.