Brussels, 23/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - After an initial meeting of this kind last week, representatives from the Council, European Parliament and Commission will hold another meeting on Tuesday 24 November in Strasbourg, in an attempt to reach a compromise on the sensitive deep water trawling dossier.
The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the EU (Coreper) endorsed a compromise on Friday 6 November, which will grant the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU a mandate for beginning discussions with the European Parliament. Member states agreed to introduce a system for limiting deep sea fishing, which will also include a ban on the fishing of deep water species by bottom trawling below 800 m in depth.
The European Parliament and the Council are divided on the question of this depth because the EP does not have amendments in this connection. This will be one of the most important questions in the negotiations, according to certain sources.
Freezing the Fish Footprint
A convergence of views appears more possible on freezing the fish footprint (the fishing of deep sea species that can be caught in zones where there have already been these catches). The two institutions both support this idea. The EP wants an individual fish footprint per boat, while the Council would like a collective footprint (cartography in addition to historic data). The latter formula is simpler to implement and according to one source is the one that will be retained. In terms of surface area open to fishing, the same result will be obtained.
The compromise between member states also includes: a ban on the fishing of deep sea species in any zone where the presence of vulnerable ecosystems has been confirmed or is likely, deeper than 400 m; all vessels sailing in vulnerable marine ecosystem zones are obliged (deep coral reefs, sponges etc.) when depths exceed 400 m, to sail away from the zone in question and flag them up to indicate that the zone is prohibited to deep sea fishing gear. The EP's position also contains provisions on the protection of vulnerable ecosystems.
The “ambitious” objective for the negotiators is to complete an agreement on 17 December, the date planned for the final trialogue on trawling. In the event of a compromise being reached, Coreper will endorse the text, which will be formally adopted by the Council at the beginning of next year. Isabelle Thomas MEP (S&D, France) is the EP rapporteur on this dossier. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)