Brussels, 11/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 11 June, the European Parliament took position in favour of a more realistic management plan for cod stocks in the North Sea and the Atlantic, with their adoption (by 592 votes to 71, with 51 abstentions) of the report by Diane Dodds (non-attached, UK). In their adoption of another report by Dodds, also on the cod plan, the EP is reaffirming its right to have its say on the procedure for the adoption of the multi-annual management plans the fish stocks.
The EP adopted (463 to 196, with 15 abstentions) an amendment aiming to avoid automatic reductions in total allowable catches (TACs) where there is a lack of reliable scientific information. The EP points out that further automatic cuts in TACs would lead to the effective closure of certain fisheries and an increase in discards.
Other amendments by the EP aim to consolidate and extend cooperation between researchers and the fisheries sector. Projects sponsored by fishermen and scientists have already taken place and aim to reduce catches of cod and, above all, discards.
One amendment aims to ensure that once the STECF (scientific, technical and economic committee for fisheries) has approved a gear or a zone in such a way that the percentage of cod catch can be limited to less than 1.5% of the total weight of the catch, that gear or zone may be used by the other member states with vessels in the same fishery (which will help to simplify the process for all concerned).
Finally, other amendments focus on “fully documented” fisheries (with cameras on board vessels). Plans to this end being trialled have already proved their worth. Similar initiatives can now be pursued.
Bringing cod plan into line with Lisbon Treaty
On Tuesday 11 June, the European Parliament approved, subject to certain amendments, the proposal to bring the 2008 regulation on the management plan for cod stocks into line with the Treaty of Lisbon. It will clarify certain matters: a number of aspects of this regulation come under the “ordinary” legislative procedure, whereby the European Council and Parliament act as co-legislators, whereas others are dealt with by means of delegated acts and/or implementation acts entrusted to the European Commission.
Readers may recall that the Council decided in December 2012 to split the Commission's proposal, adopting a separate regulation for the fishing year 2013 relating to just Articles 9 (quotas) and 12 (fishing effort) of that management plan (Regulation 1243/2012). The EP and the Commission appealed to the Court of Justice of the EU, calling for the regulation to be cancelled.
Overall, the EP approves the Commission's proposal, in that it suggests the use of delegated acts in order to: - adapt fishing mortality rates and corresponding levels of spawning biomass to scientific discoveries; - adjust fishing effort in the event of the exclusion of a group of vessels from the effort management regime or the re-inclusion of the same group in the regime; - specify rules on the method for calculating fishing capacity and adjusting maximum capacity levels; - define rules on the calculation method to allow the member states to adapt the maximum allowable fishing effort in conjunction with quotas management and further to a transfer of fishing effort between effort groups.
The EP's amendments feature a stricter definition of the circumstances in which the Commission may adopt delegated acts, and the addition of an explicit reference to the ordinary legislative procedure. The EP explicitly states that: - any change to the multi-annual plan, not including the exceptional cases provided for in the present regulation, must be adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure; - delegated acts are limited in scope to changes to fishing mortality rates and levels of spawning biomass. One amendment specifies that the Commission should be obliged to use the scientific data of the STECF and to consult the competent regional consultative council before making any decisions to adopt the delegated acts it uses to lay down new values of fishing mortality rates and levels of spawning biomass.
The EP's vote on the report by Dodds disregards the decisions made by the Council in December 2012 and reaffirms the powers of the EP.
The Treaty of Lisbon brings in co-decision for all decisions to be made under the common fisheries policy. Only the annual setting of fishing opportunities or quotas are not covered by this. Article 43§3 of the Treaty provides that the Council, on proposal by the Commission, adopt measures on setting and dividing up fishing opportunities. As the multi-annual management plans bring in a raft of measures, from defining fishing effort (days at sea) and other technical methods to setting quotas, the Commission has based its proposal on co-decision. The Council is challenging this legal basis, to the great consternation of the EP which, in view of the new powers which have been allocated to it, does not intend to give an inch. (LC/transl.fl)