Brussels, 13/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - EU fisheries ministers will meet on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 December to agree fishing quotas for 2014 in the Atlantic, English Channel, North Sea and Black Sea. The Commission has proposed heavily reduced total allowable catches (TACs) and fishing quotas for a number of species, such as cod, haddock, sole, mackerel, langoustine, plaice, ray and megrim. This has left a number of countries, whose vessels target these fish, unhappy. The talks are expected to be lengthy and complicated.
An initial draft compromise on TACs and quotas for 2014 is expected at some point on Monday and, after an initial exchange of views at the Fisheries Council, there will be trilateral talks (minister, Presidency and Commission) with each country individually in the afternoon and until late in the evening. The talks will resume on Tuesday morning and could finish until late.
The trickiest questions include: - maximum sustainable yield (MSY): France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium want a more gradual approach than that recommended by the Commission, which wants MSY to be reached in 2015, although it is possible to do so at other points from 2015 to 2020); - stocks for which there is little information: here the Commission suggests a 20% reduction for all, but a number of countries want a case-by-case approach; - TACs for which no scientific advice is available: several countries want TACs to be carried forward, if previous scientific advice suggests this would not be problematic; - haddock in the Celtic Sea: the Commission wants a 75% cut in the TAC to achieve MSY in 2015, but France, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Belgium says this is far too drastic a reduction (some countries say that too low a TAC would simply lead to fish being discarded at sea); - cod: the Commission suggests a 20% cut in the Irish Sea, which the UK and Ireland say is too stringent; in the Celtic Sea, it recommends a 33% cut, which France and the UK say is too high; - langoustine: the European Commission suggests a 18% cut in the Bay of Biscay (France wants no change to quotas) and a 10% cut in Spanish waters; - mackerel: the Commission suggests a 40% cut in Spanish waters, Spain, Portugal and France say is too high; - plaice: the 17% cut recommended by the Commission is being challenged by Belgium and France; - ray: the Commission suggests a 20% cut, but France, Spain, the UK, Belgium and Portugal say this is too high.
For a number of species, including mackerel in the Celtic Sea and in the Bay of Biscay, whiting in the Bay of Biscay and pollack, the Commission suggests a 20% cut, but countries fishing the species in question want the existing TAC to be brought forward.
EMFF. The Lithuanian Presidency will brief ministers on progress in the talks between Council and Parliament on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Since early November, the Presidency has been involved in informal political and technical trialogue talks with the European Parliament with a view to reaching agreement on the draft legislation by the end of the year. The talks are tough, because the Presidency is sticking to the negotiating mandate given to it by the Council. (LC/transl.fl)