Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 37 in conjunction with Article 300(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 300(3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament^f1,

Whereas:

The Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for in the Agreement on cooperation in the sea fisheries sector between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania applies for the period 1 August 2001 to 31 July 2006^f2.

In view of the scientific opinions on the state of resources in the Mauritanian EEZ and, in particular, the results of the fourth and fifth working groups of the Mauritanian Institute of Oceanographic Research and Fisheries (IMROP) and of the joint scientific working party, and in the light of the conclusions drawn from those results at the meetings of the Joint Committee held on 10 September and 15 and 16 December 2004, the two parties have decided to amend the existing fishing opportunities.

The outcome of those amendments has been the subject of an Exchange of Letters and involves a temporary reduction in the fishing effort for cephalopods (category 5), the fixing of a second closed period of one month for demersal fishing, and an increase in the number of pole-and-line tuna vessels and surface longliners (category 8) and pelagic freezer trawlers (category 9).

It is in the Community's interest to approve those amendments.

The allocation of the new fishing opportunities among the Member States, as thus amended, should be confirmed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: