By Council Decision 86/238/EEC1 the Union concluded the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas2, which established the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), (‘ICCAT Convention’).

The ICCAT is responsible for the adoption of measures designed to ensure the long term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in the ICCAT Convention area and to safeguard the marine ecosystems in which these resources occur. Such measures may become binding upon the Union.

Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council3 provides that the Union is to ensure that fishing and aquaculture activities are environmentally sustainable in the long term and are managed in a way that is consistent with the objectives of achieving economic, social and employment benefits, and of contributing to the availability of food supplies. It also provides that the Union is to apply the precautionary approach to fisheries management, and is to aim to ensure that exploitation of marine biological resources restores and maintains population of harvested species above levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield. It further provides that the Union is to take management and conservation measures based on the best available scientific advice, to support the development of scientific knowledge and advice, to gradually eliminate discards and to promote fishing methods that contribute to more selective fishing and the avoidance and reduction, as far as possible, of unwanted catches, to fishing with low impact on marine ecosystem and fishery resources. Furthermore, Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 specifically provides that those objectives and principles are to be applied by the Union in the conduct of its external fisheries relations.

As stated in the Joint communication by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission ‘International ocean governance: an agenda for the future of oceans’, and the Council conclusions on that Joint communication, the promotion of measures to support and enhance the effectiveness of regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) and, where relevant, improve their governance is central to the Union's action in these fora.

The Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, to the Council, to the European Economic and Social Committee and to the Committee of the Regions ‘European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’, refers to specific measures to reduce plastics and marine pollution as well as the loss or abandonment at sea of fishing gear.

This is because the recommendations adopted by ICCAT might supplement, amend or replace the obligations foreseen in existing Union legislation.

Currently, the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the meetings of the ICCAT is established by the Council Decision of 8 July 2014 on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the Union, in the ICCAT. It is appropriate to repeal that Decision and to replace it by a new Decision which would cover the period 2019-2023.

In view of the evolving nature of fishery resources in the ICCAT Convention area and the consequent need for the position of the Union to take account of new developments, including new science and other relevant information presented before or during the meetings of the ICCAT, procedures should be established, in line with the principle of sincere cooperation among the Union institutions enshrined in Article 13(2) of the Treaty on European Union, for the year-to-year specification of the Union position for the period 2019-2023,