According to press release the European Union is ready to go through its most valuable agreement with Mauritania and seek to pay the country less compensation due to the lower amounts of fish it takes. It is mentioned that the EU has already signed more than 20 bilateral fishing agreements, mostly with developing countries in Africa, that ensure the union a substantial extra supply of fish.
The European Commission mentions that the Mauritania deal is the largest and most valuable to all EU nations. This would allow 200 boats flying the flags of some 13 EU nations to catch many species in Mauritanian waters. Under this agreement the European Union pays $ 125.8 million annually to Mauritania.
The Commission wants to keep the overall value of the Mauritania deal unchanged because the Commission’s development unit would probably step in to pay the balance. In the statement issued by EU fisheries ministries, it is mentioned that the majority of EU governments wanted continued negotiations with Mauritania with a view to amending the existing protocol without terminating it.
In the deal the Commission would define the volume of fishing opportunities for EU vessels in such a way so that it would ensure a clear balance between these quotas and the financial reimbursement to Mauritania. The agreement is scheduled to expire at the end of July and so the renegotiation is on the agenda.
