The Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 11 May is expected to agree a general approach on the text on the conservation of fishery resources and the protection of marine ecosystems through technical measures (see EUROPE 11529).
The proposal seeks to replace the current framework with a view to maximising the contribution of technical measures to achievement of the main goals of the new common fisheries policy. The proposal essentially amends the governance structure of technical measures rather than amending the measures themselves. It seeks to bring greater flexibility and to put in place measures that offer greater incentive to increase the selectivity of the fishery.
At the meeting of the committee of member state representatives to the EU – Coreper – on Wednesday 26 April, some delegations (Denmark and the Netherlands) commented on the text. Denmark would have liked to have seen greater flexibility on certain provisions. The Commission would appear to have difficulty with certain parts of the text on which there is agreement within Council (lack of “target quantities”, provisions on regionalisation that are not always clear and problems with regard to certain safety measures).
According to a provisional timetable, the European Parliament fisheries committee will vote on the report on technical measures by Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spain) in July, with the plenary session vote coming in September of this year. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)