Paris, 4 June 2009 – The Assembly has called for a series of measures by the EU and the international community to crack down on the growing maritime piracy that has become a huge threat to navigation, world trade and to World Food Programme deliveries of food relief to Somalia.

Presenting a report entitled “The role of the European Union in combating piracy” on behalf of the Defence Committee, Rapporteur Kurt Bodewig (Germany, Socialist Group) said that 15 ships and 200 hostages were currently being held off the Somali coast and in the Gulf of Aden along the “second most travelled sea lane in the world”. Fellow Rapporteurs were Aristotelis Pavlidis (Greece, Federated Group) and Tarmo Kouts (Estonia, Federated Group).

The report, which was adopted unanimously, listed 13 recommendations, including the establishment of a permanent planning conference of forces involved in counter-piracy operations in the region, improved communications with participant countries and use of the dedicated Operations Headquarters website at Northwood for real-time information, and an increase in the number of military onboard protection teams (OPT). Several recommendations make reference to Somalia itself, advocating support for measures to help prosecute pirates, eliminate illegal fishing in coastal waters under Somali jurisdiction and re-establish the rule of law in the country. The EU had reached a legal agreement with Kenya so that pirates could be prosecuted in the Kenyan courts. The EU should therefore provide assistance to Kenya’s justice system. John Greenway (United Kingdom, Federated Group) called the document “an excellent example of what this Assembly can accomplish”.

Piracy qualifies as organised crime. Pirates can capture a ship within less than a quarter an hour of their being sighted, Mr Bodewig said. Their “degree of professionalism is quite impressive”. The consequence was that shipping insurance premiums had risen tenfold. The EUFOR Somalia – Operation Atalanta maritime mission off the Somali coast was a success, he said, but the problem was that it had to cover an extremely large area. 

Speaking from the floor, Birgen Keles (Turkey, Socialist Group) said that the causes of the piracy should also be tackled. These included illegal fishing in coastal waters. Lord Chidgey (United Kingdom, Liberal Group) said piracy off the coast of Somalia could be beaten back only if the issues of its collapsed economy, failed governance and absence of rule of law were resolved.