Brussels, 17/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 16 October, Alain Cadec (EPP, France), president of the committee on fisheries of the European Parliament, presented his draft report on the implementation of the landing obligation, in other words the obligation upon fishermen to land all catch taken at sea (EUROPE 11177 on the draft report). The objective is to bring seven regulations into line with the landing obligation, a major measure of the new common fisheries policy (CFP).
Alain Cadec stressed two points: at this stage of the implementation of the CAP, this legal alignment must focus only on the fisheries covered by the landing obligation to come in on 1 January 2015 (notably pelagic species). Then, it must be limited to what is strictly required for the correct implementation of the landing obligation and not contain any unrelated technical measures.
This work has shed light on the great complexity of the implementation of the landing obligation. “My worst fears have been confirmed: there is an extremely worrying legal ambiguity surrounding the use of unsaleable landed catch. Amongst other things, I am concerned at the possible emergence of ungovernable parallel markets for these products”, the MEP said. The Commission shares these concerns, but has not yet put forward any solutions. “2015 will clearly be a test year for the landing obligation and we must learn lessons from it when it comes to implementing this measure for the other fisheries”.
With the exception, amongst others, of Ulrike Rodust (S&D, Germany), Peter van Dalen (CER, Netherlands) and Anja Hazekamp (GUE/NGL, Netherlands), who support the Commission's initial text (which covers the ban on discards from 2015 to 2019), the other MEPs of the EPP, the S&D and ALDE supported the rapporteur's approach. Francisco José Millan Mon (EPP, Spain) described it as a realistic text, offering a certain amount of flexibility to implement rules which are something of a challenge. José Blanco Lopez (S&D, Spain) expressed his appreciation of Cadec's approach. Annie Schreijer-Pierik (EPP, Netherlands) stressed that Norway had 20 years to implement the ban on discards, compared to two for the EU.
In the opposite corner, Rodust said: “stop asking the Commission to review its copy. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!”. We must not hold things up, but plan the landing obligation, Cadec replied. The landing obligation is one thing, the technical measures are something else which will come later. The fisheries committee will vote on the report on 4 December, with the plenary vote scheduled for January. “This text is an excellent basis for continued discussions”, said the representative of the Commission. “We should not go into the first stage of the landing obligation in legal confusion, or the fishermen will never forgive us”, said the Commission. (LC)