After the session, committee chairman Ivica Racan told reporters that the committee had reached a consensus that it was necessary to hold successful membership negotiations and to activate the above-mentioned zone.
Asked whether ZERP application can cause problems for Croatia, Racan said problems were possible, particularly in relations with neighbouring countries when it came to ZERP implementation, but that Croatia must know how to deal with that.
Social Democratic Party (SDP) chief Racan, however, does not believe that the ZERP can significantly undermine Zagreb's accession negotiations with the EU.
He recalled that EU members Slovenia and Italy had declared their fisheries zones and there was no reason for Croatia not to do the same.
Josip Friscic, the Peasant Party (HSS) leader, said that it was important for Croatia to enter the Union but it was more important for the country to manage its own sea and not let others do it.
Our diplomats have both the strength and arguments for the negotiations, Friscic added.
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) parliamentarian Gordan Jandrokovic, the chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, said that it was vital to protect Croatia's national interests and fishers but also the pace of the EU membership negotiations.
Speaking about the EU policy chapter on fisheries, the Croatian chief negotiator in the agricultural sector, Ruzica Gelo, has said that the Croatian fisheries policy should be aimed at protecting the fish stocks so that next generations would not inherit "a dead sea".
"One can understand why (Croatian) fishermen are frustrated by the fact that some issues have remained unsolved for years. They were not settled in the 1970s when other countries solved such issues. However, it remains to be seen whether the Croatian political elite is prepared to bring into question the accession negotiations," Gelo said.
She recalled that the reform of the 2000 EU fisheries policy was aimed at protecting biological resources and reinforced control, including restrictions in fishing capacities and more efficient control.
The Croatian parliament had adopted a decision on the ZERP but later suspended its application.
The Croatian parliament's decision of October 2003 to declare a protected fishing and ecological zone in the Adriatic Sea, to have gone into force within a year's time from its declaration, was met with negative reactions in the EU, Italy and Slovenia, although protected fishing zones are what the European Commission has recommended that Mediterranean countries introduce to protect fish stocks threatened by overfishing. As part of the reform of its Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the European Commission in October 2002 adopted an action plan for the protection and sustainable use of fish stocks in the Mediterranean.
The ecological and fisheries protection zone, proclaimed by the Croatian Parliament on October 3, 2003, relates to the research, exploitation, preservation and management of living natural resources beyond the outer border of Croatian territorial waters and jurisdiction over the scientific exploration of the sea and the protection and preservation of the marine environment.
In accordance with the Croatian Parliament's decision of June 3, 2004, the zone regime has not applied to ships sailing under European Union member states' flags until the European Community and Croatia conclude a fisheries partnership agreement.