The EU Parliament Fisheries Committee has strongly reacted to renewed violence in the African state of Guinea. Commenting on this violence the EU Parliament Fisheries Committee has rejected a draft fisheries agreement between the Union and Guinea. It is told that the agreement would had provided €450,000 a year in EU funding to develop Guinea’s fisheries sector, and meanwhile allow EU boats to fish in Guinean waters.
It is said that after the Bureau of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly had strongly condemned the use of force and decided to go for vote. The force was used by the Guinean government to disperse demonstrations that took place in the Guinean capital of Conakry on the preceding Monday, leading to the deaths of over one hundred civilians.
The cooperation between the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of states (ACP) and the European Union was established under the Cotonou Agreement of 2000. It is informed that the rejected draft, providing EU funding of €450,000 per year, could be supplemented by a further €300,000 per year if further fishing opportunities were granted. An additional €1.6 million would be available over the four years to strengthen the monitoring, control and surveillance system in Guinea’s fishing zones.
