ROME, Oct 2 (Hina) - Following Croatia's announcement of possible declaration of an economic zone in the Adriatic Sea, Italy has officially sought diplomatic and political intervention of the European Union in order to establish
normal channels of cooperation in the Adriatic, the Trieste-based daily Il Piccolo reported on Thursday. The Undersecretary for Fisheries of the Italian Agriculture Ministry, Paolo Scarpa, sent an official letter to European Commission President Romano Prodi and European Union Commissioner for Fisheries Franz Fischler on Wednesday, saying that Croatia's plan to unilaterally declare an economic zone was "a European problem". "No Mediterranean country has declared an exclusive economic zone. France and Spain have proclaimed such zones only in the Atlantic. Italy wishes to recall that Mediterranean countries have based their principles on the spirit of good neighbourly
ROME, Oct 2 (Hina) - Following Croatia's announcement of possible
declaration of an economic zone in the Adriatic Sea, Italy has
officially sought diplomatic and political intervention of the
European Union in order to establish normal channels of cooperation
in the Adriatic, the Trieste-based daily Il Piccolo reported on
Thursday.
The Undersecretary for Fisheries of the Italian Agriculture
Ministry, Paolo Scarpa, sent an official letter to European
Commission President Romano Prodi and European Union Commissioner
for Fisheries Franz Fischler on Wednesday, saying that Croatia's
plan to unilaterally declare an economic zone was "a European
problem".
"No Mediterranean country has declared an exclusive economic zone.
France and Spain have proclaimed such zones only in the Atlantic.
Italy wishes to recall that Mediterranean countries have based
their principles on the spirit of good neighbourly relations and
agreements within the General Council for Fisheries in the
Mediterranean (the Barcelona accords of 1976).
"Those principles, introduced at the Third Conference on the Sea,
recommend that coastal countries with closed seas cooperate (...)
in the preservation, exploration and use of living marine resources
and coordinate the exercise of their rights and duties to protect
and preserve the sea," Il Picollo quoted the letter as saying.
It said that characteristics of the Adriatic ruled out the
possibility of one country exercising the right to declare an
exclusive economic zone unilaterally and without agreement with
other interested coastal countries.
"Political consequences would be clear, with repercussions on
relations between Croatia on one side and Italy and Slovenia on the
other," Scarpa wrote.
He warned that in that case Slovenia, due to the configuration of
its coast, would be limited if not prevented from having access to
the open sea. On the other hand, Croatia would have three-fifths of
the Adriatic with exclusive fishing rights, which would put Italian
fishermen in the Adriatic in danger, Il Picollo reported.
Last week at a preparatory meeting for the Venice conference on
fishing in the Mediterranean, European Commission officials called
on Croatia not to make any decisions regarding the expansion of its
jurisdiction without approval of neighbours or before the Venice
conference. European Commission President Romano Prodi sent
similar warnings in a letter to Croatian Prime Minister Ivica
Racan.
(hina) vm sb