Call on the European Parliament to support transparency of the EU external fishing fleet 23 January 2017 Dear Member of the European Parliament, We, the undersigned European and global organisations, are writing to you to request your support in advancing legal and sustainable fishing of the European fishing fleet, as well as contributing to financial transparency, and the fight against corruption and illegal fishing, by supporting full transparency in relation to EU vessels granted authorisations to fish outside EU waters. Specifically, we urge you on Thursday 2 February 2017 to support the provisions in the PECH report on the Regulation on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets, which will establish an EU-managed public database of fishing vessels registered in the EU that receive such authorisations and their owners (amendment 69). 1 Call on the European Parliament to support transparency of the EU external fishing fleet Such transparency of European fishing fleet activities is essential because the EU fleet operates in the waters of developing coastal States in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and off the coast of West and Central Africa, aided by EU funds of EUR 145 million annually. The scale of the EU’s fishing activities abroad is such that its operations can have a significant impact on the long-term conservation and management of global fish stocks. On 5 December 2016, the PECH Committee supported the creation of the first public register of authorisations for vessels fishing outside EU waters. This proposed public database will include several key pieces of information such as vessel name, flag, type of authorisation and period, unique vessel identifiers (IMO numbers), as well as the beneficial ownership details. The vote in favour is in line with current positions of the European Parliament on the revision of the 4th anti-money laundering directive. In autumn 2016 the ECON/LIBE draft report and DEVE opinion both supported full public disclosure of beneficial ownership information. It is also in line with the Parliament position on the previous revision in 2014 that required every Member State to establish ownership registers that were fully in the public domain. Creating this sectoral obligation does not, of course, replace the need for a cross-sectoral register of beneficial ownership for companies and trusts. Moreover, it is also coherent with the growing momentum on EU and international beneficial ownership transparency: - The UK, Slovenia, Denmark, France, Bulgaria and the Netherlands have set up or are currently setting up public databases. - 2013: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)1 recognized that a lack of transparency and access to beneficial ownership information is a major indicator that tax crime and related offences may be present. - 2013: G8 Members committed to compiling comprehensive data on beneficial ownership of their companies2; - 2014: G20 Members3 adopted a 10 point policy on how they will increase transparency of beneficial ownership of companies and trusts, including the commitment to establishing central registries. This is a G20 high priority. - 2016: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recommended that financial investigations should be developed to uncover broader criminal networks and reveal beneficial ownership structures in the fisheries sector (25th Session of the CCPCJ)4. - 2016: At the 4th Open Government Partnership Global Summit5, partners committed to ending abuse of anonymous companies by reducing the opacity around corporate ownership. As an economic leader Europe has an obligation to ensure its fishing fleets comply with global transparency standards. We therefore call on you to support the PECH proposal and thereby promote sustainability and global financial transparency and tax governance. Sincerely, Lasse Gustavsson, Executive Director, Oceana in Europe Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe 2 Call on the European Parliament to support transparency of the EU external fishing fleet International Claire Nouvian, Founder and Chair, BLOOM Alexandra Dunn, Executive Director and Co-Founder, The Engine Room Steve Trent, Executive Director, Environmental Justice Foundation Porter McConnell, Director, Financial Transparency Coalition Christine Clough, Program Manager, Global Financial Integrity Shauna Leven, Campaign Director – Corruption, Global Witness Saskia Richartz, Deputy Director, Greenpeace European Unit Edwin Huizing, Director, Hivos Samuel Stone, Head of Fisheries & Aquaculture, Marine Conservation Society Chris Taggart, Co-Founder & CEO, OpenCorporates Zosia Sztykowski, Project Lead, OpenOwnership Arjan El Fassed, Director, Open State Foundation Alex Howard, Deputy Director, Sunlight Foundation Carl Dolan, Director, Transparency International EU Gillian Dell, Transparency International Berlin, for the UNCAC Coalition Carole Excell, Acting Director, Environmental Democracy Practice, World Resources Institute European Organisations Corina Dragomirescu, Advocacy Academy Association, Romania Guido Romero, Executive Director, Diritto di Sapere, Italy Mathias Huter, Secretary General, Forum Informationsfreiheit, Austria. Christien Absil, Chair, Good Fish Foundation, Netherlands Jelena Berkovic, Executive Director, GONG, Croatia Bronwyn Cahill, Research Scientist, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Arne Semsrott, Project Lead, Open Knowledge Foundation Germany Aniol Esteban, Programme Director, New Economics Foundation, UK Global Gilbert Sendugwa, Coordinator & Head of Secretariat, Africa Freedom of Information Centre, Uganda David Ugolor, Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Nigeria Jean-Pierre Alumba Lukamba, Deputy Chairperson, African Diaspora Forum, South Africa Amane Guerfi, Founder, Agence Open Gov Algeria Lab. Algeria Dr Chima Amadi, Executive Director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy, Nigeria Henri Christin Longendja, Secrétaire Exécutif, Collectif 24, Democratic Republic of Congo Douglas White, President, Foundation State and Society / Network of Open Government, Dominican Republic Grazielle David, Policy Advisor, INESC, Portugal Ibrahim Al-Sragey, Director, Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association, Baghdad, Iraq Hilda Ajeilat, President, Jordan Transparency Center, Jordan Marileide Sousa Silva Luna, Movimento Popular de Saúde, Portugal Jean-Francois Mombia Atuku, PCA du RIAO, RDC Tijah Bolton-Akpan, Head of Programmes, Policy Alert, Nigeria Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Nigeria 3 Call on the European Parliament to support transparency of the EU external fishing fleet Bazira Henry Mugisha, Executive Director, Water Governance Institute, Uganda Marina Amara, Transparency International Russia Individuals Syed Abu Ahmad Akif, Secretary to the Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Climate Change President Aigbokhan, Esq, FOI lawyer, Nigeria Alagie Barrow, Regional Supervisor/Manager at Supersonicz the Micro-finance, and also the CEO & Co-founder of the Youth Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa Shaazka Beyerle, Author of Curtailing Corruption: People Power for Accountability and Justice Petru Botnaru, Freelance Journalist, Republic of Moldova/Romania Ken Coghill, Department of Management, Monash Business School, Australia Pınar Dağ, Data Journalism Instructor, Turkey Erwin de Grave, International Relations Director, Dyntra Francesca Fanucci, Lawyer – Consultant on Freedom of Expression, Italy Eoin Sweeney, Director, ITO Consult Ltd. 1 OECD Evading the Net: Tax Crime in the Fisheries Sector, 2013 2013 Lough Erne G8 Leaders' Communiqué 3 -16 November 2014 4 November 2016 UNODC http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2016/May/fisheries-crime_-bringing-to-light-the-perfect-storm-ofillegal-activities-in-the-fishing-sector.html?ref=fs4 5 https://paris-declaration.ogpsummit.org/topic/5810a95bfade72c82462b343 2 4