The objective of the Partnership Agreement and the Protocol is to enable the Union and the Republic of Seychelles (‘Seychelles’) to work more closely together to further promote the development of a sustainable fisheries policy, and enable the responsible exploitation of fisheries resources in the Seychelles fishing zone and in the Indian Ocean, while contributing to decent working conditions in the fisheries sector.

The Partnership Agreement and the Protocol should be approved.

Article 12 of the Partnership Agreement provides for the establishment of a Joint Committee to be responsible for monitoring the application of the Partnership Agreement and the Protocol. Furthermore, the Joint Committee can adopt certain modifications to the Protocol. In order to facilitate the approval of such modifications, the Commission should be authorised, subject to specific substantive and procedural conditions, to approve them on behalf of the Union under a simplified procedure.

The Union’s position on proposed modifications to the Protocol should be established by the Council. The proposed modifications should be approved unless a blocking minority of Member States in accordance with Article 16(4) of the Treaty on European Union objects to those modifications.

The Partnership Agreement and the Protocol should enter into force as soon as possible in view of the economic importance related to Union fishing activities in the Seychelles fishing zone and the need to reduce the interruption of such activities as much as possible,