Draft No 3

Draft No 3 R E S O L U T I O N ON THE SITUATION ON THE USE OF FISH STOCKS OF THE BALTIC SEA The Baltic Assembly, taking into consideration that: regulation of fishing in the Baltic Sea is the exclusive competence of the European Union; following the accession of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to the European Union, the International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission (IBSFC) ceased to function; the European Union has coordinated a preliminary text of a bilateral agreement with the Russian Federation concerning fishing in the Baltic Sea, under which all issues regarding regulation of fishing will be solved by a joint committee of the European Community and the Russian Federation; until now the issues pertaining to fishing in the Baltic Sea used to be solved through negotiations between all the countries fishing in this Sea, recommends the Governments of the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Lithuania: to sign a mutual agreement on fishing in the Baltic Sea; to set up a consultative commission consisting of representative of the three States and to obligate it to prepare common positions on most relevant issues of fishing in the Baltic Sea, including preparation of long-term plans of the use of fish stocks; and to achieve the signing of an agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation concerning fishing in the Baltic Sea as soon as possible. Vilnius, 17 December 2006