The European Union's fisheries partnership agreements : a governability assessment of the case of the Republic of Mozambique

Abstract

This is an exploratory study of the European Union’s (EU's) Fisheries Partnership Agreements (FPAs) with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The agreements are criticized for not being able to implement in practice what they promise on paper. The overall objective of the FPAs is threefold: securing access for the EU fleet, supplying the Union’s internal market and promoting sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the partner country. There is an internal conflict between these objectives and the latter remains the most challenging to implement. By conducting a governability assessment of the FPA between the EU and the Republic of Mozambique, this study explores the governance process of such agreements, while seeking to identify what components are limiting the governing system’s ability to achieve the given objective. The assessment reveals that participation, availability of data, institutional organization and efficiency, political power and commitment are key elements. Governance interactions that can increase the ability to achieve the given objective are also suggested.