Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 2 • Number 11 • 13th June 2002
European Council Reviews Commission’s Proposed Fisheries Policy Reform
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During discussions on 11 June on the European Commission’s proposed reform package for the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the European Council agreed on some key points outlined in the proposal, including a recognition that overcapacity of the fishing fleet is placing intolerable pressure on fish in European waters. The Council, which is made up of European Fisheries Ministers, also for the first time agreed on measures to regulate the exploitation of deep sea fish species. In its reform package released late last month, the European Commission proposed to replace the annual process of setting fishing quotas — the so-called ‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) — with a method of setting them in the framework of a multi-annual management plan. In this way, sufficient levels of fish stocks could be maintained, as the quotas would be determined according to most recent scientific recommendations. In parallel, the Commission plans to stop subsidising new fishing vessels so as to reduce excess fleet capacity. Further, the Commission announced that the reform package included an action plan against illegal fishing as well as a strategy for EU fisheries development partnerships with third countries so as to achieve sustainable fisheries in non-EU waters. Sources indicate that France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Ireland — the self-proclaimed ‘Friends of Fishing’ — have expressed opposition to the proposed reform package. In related developments, delegates at the Fourth Preparatory Meeting (28 May - 7 June, Indonesia) for the World Summit On Sustainable Development tentatively agreed to “eliminate” subsidies that contributed to overcapacity (see related story, this issue).
“EU Fisheries Policy: Commission Outlines Reform To Give The EU Fisheries Sector A Future,” EU PRESS RELEASE, 28 May 2002; “Paris Opposé à la Réforme De La Pêche” L’AGEFI, 28 May 2002; “Europe to regulate deep sea fisheries,” ENS; 12 June 2002.
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