Luxembourg, 28/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - European fisheries ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday 28 June agreed a general approach on the proposal governing the activities of external fishing fleets.
Negotiations will now be able to be opened with the European Parliament on this text which looks to overhaul the authorisations regime for EU fishing vessels to fish outside Union waters, and for third country fishing vessels to fish inside Union waters. The text aims to broaden the scope of the regulation to include issues such as direct third country licences, chartering and reflagging. The proposal would also create an EU database on fishing licences issued.
The Dutch Presidency of the Council drafted several compromise texts, the last of which allowed ministers to come to agreement on a general approach. The Dutch minister, Martijn van Dam, welcomed the strong support in the Council for the text.
The Commission did not support some of the changes, such as the removal of its power to grant and withdraw fishing licences.
Spain and Portugal backed the general approach but regretted that it did not contain a method for reallocating unused fishing opportunities. Lithuania and Latvia were critical of some aspects of the proposal, for example, the eligibility criteria for fishing licences.
France hailed a text which “will increase the transparency of external activities without affecting the competitiveness of European fishing businesses”. Following the removal of Article 5, paragraph 1d, France says that it will be keen, in the course of the coming trialogue discussions, to make sure that the system for issuing external fishery licences “is not less stringent than the current system”.
Italy also called for Article 17, on the conditions for issuing licences by flag member states, to be simplified. In addition, Portugal and Italy stressed the importance of resolving the issue of dormant fisheries agreements with third countries (Portugal cited the example of the agreement with Mozambique).
In a press release, the NGO Oceana says that it is disappointed that ministers removed the option that would have given the European Commission the power to withdraw authorisations when member states fail to monitor their fleet correctly. Ministers also rejected the requirement that only vessels with a clean compliance record can apply for a licence to fish in non-EU waters. Oceana, however, welcomes the text agreed by the ministers, particularly with regard to the creation of public database to increase transparency. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)