Estonian Environment Minister Siim Valmar Kiisler said in Brussels on Wednesday 12 July that it should be possible to reach inter-institutional agreement between now and the end of December on the multi-annual management plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea (see other article). The Council has already agreed a general approach.
The Estonian minister told MEPs on the fisheries committee that he wanted to “ensure proper implementation of the common fisheries policy” (CFP). He also intends to “take forward” discussions in Council on the management plan for small demersal species (such as sardine and anchovy) caught in the Adriatic Sea. Estonia also wants to relaunch discussions in Council on updating the salmon management plan for the Baltic Sea.
Technical measures. The Parliamentary fisheries committee hopes to adopt the report by Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spain) on technical measures in fisheries on 23 October. This is a highly complex issue that will not be completed under the Estonian Presidency. “These negotiations will take a lot of time. We will involve the incoming Bulgarian Presidency of the Council to ensure a smooth transition on this issue”, Kiisler said. “Better, simpler rules are needed and the Council will begin negotiations with the Parliament as soon as it adopts its position”, he added.
Future of EMFF. A conference will be held in Estonia in October on the future of the EMFF (European Maritime and Fisheries Fund), Kiisler said. The other fisheries matters for the second half of the year are: setting fishing opportunities for 2018 (in October for the Baltic Sea and in December for quotas in the Channel, the North Sea and the Atlantic) and external policy (including agreements with Norway, Greenland, and new partnership agreements with the Cook Islands, Comoros, Mauritius, Guinea Bissau, Gabon, Sao Tomé and Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique and Kiribati).
EU-Morocco agreement. Asked by a number of MEPs, including Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (ALDE, Spain) and Maria Lidia Senra Rodriguez (GUE/NGL, Spain), about the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement and the benefits it would bring to the people of Western Sahara, Kiisler gave reassurance. He said that the negotiations on renewing the EU-Morocco protocol could begin in autumn 2017 and suggested that the current agreement contained enough safeguards on human rights. “This protocol contains benefits for the local population and EU funds are used effectively”, he stated. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)