Brussels, 16/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 15 February in Brussels, EU Fisheries Ministers responded to the recent proposal on external fishing fleet management (see EUROPE 11450) in a generally positive way. Nonetheless, the majority of them warned against any possible rise in administrative charges from the new fishing licence authorisation system.
The Dutch Presidency of the Council explained that it wanted the Council to adopt a general approach in May or June on this dossier.
The proposal seeks to modernise the management of fishing authorisation licences granted to Union vessels fishing outside Union waters and those awarded to fishing vessels from third countries fishing in Union waters.
The European Commissioner for Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, emphasised that the EU must show that it is worthy of its reputation in the improvement of ocean governance.
Spain said that for a long time it had been requesting a revision of the regulation in question and pointed out the national measures taken to improve transparency and improve the fight against illegal fishing. It criticised the administrative costs and complexity of certain procedures stemming from the proposed text, particularly the requirements for obtaining licences. Spain also said that there should be a possibility allowed for redistributing fishing opportunities as part of the fishing agreements with third countries, including the annual agreement with Norway.
Latvia expressed concerns about the increased Commission powers, which could see the Commission being allowed to withdraw fishing licences from EU countries.
Germany said that they need to ensure that the proposal did not lead to further administrative costs or encroach on the “relative stability” principle. It also said that the new regulation should respect the provisions in the fishing agreements and legislation on inspections.
Portugal and France said that they were particularly in favour of the objectives in the new regulation, such as those for tackling the shortcomings in the current system and improving the fight against illegal fishing. France supports: the introduction of a stricter authorisation system for EU fishing activities in the waters of third countries that are not governed by any fishing agreements; a more robust framework governing the way in which vessels fly different flags and are charted. It also agrees with the principle of a public external fisheries authorisation register (with annual publication of the list of European vessels fishing outside of EU waters and their zones of activity). The French delegation emphasised, however, that “this regulation needs to be fully integrated into the context of 'better regulation' and the absence of excessive administrative costs”. It criticised some of the “too heavy” provisions proposed, such as the setting up of an authorisation system for EU vessels whose activities are already regulated through fishing agreements and regional fishing organisations, as well as the introduction of a new secure administrative register for external fishing authorisations overseen by the member states.
Italy considers that some provisions in the proposal need to be amended, in an effort to simplify the authorisation regime. It believes that they need to check the impact of the proposal on fishing activities in the areas of competence overseen by regional fishing organisations.
The United Kingdom expressed concerns about a dual sanctions regime that went against national rules and called for clarification about the powers given to the Commission for withdrawing fishing licences.
Denmark agrees with the objective of updating the provisions in this field but says that the proposal should not be allowed to generate unnecessary administrative costs. It insisted that some of the provisions should be proportionate and, similarly to Germany, called for the relative stability principle to be respected.
Commissioner Vella said that during the negotiations he would take into account the comments made by the countries regarding administrative costs that should not be allowed to increase for member states and the Commission and on the need to ensure that constraints are not imposed on small fleets.
Germany also underlined the need to reach a swift agreement between institutions on the multiannual cod restocking plan in the Baltic Sea. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)