The members of the European Parliament’s fisheries committee agreed on Wednesday 30 August to apply a simplified procedure with no amendments on the proposal authorising the Commission to adopt discard plans for the forthcoming three-year period in order to facilitate implementation of the landing requirement (ending discarding of fish at sea).
The Commission advanced this proposal in view of the delays in adoption of the multiannual plans for the management of fish stocks (see EUROPE 11845). The discard plans (delegated acts) expire at the end of the year and will have to be replaced with new plans.
The MEPs on the committee followed the suggestion of rapporteur Alain Cadec (EPP, France) that the text be adopted by means of a simplified procedure (Article 50 of the rules of procedure of the European Parliament). “It’s a technical amendment of the regulation on the common fisheries policy to fill a legal void”, Cadec said. The Commission states that the proposal would allow it to issue new delegated acts on four discard plans (two relating to fishing in the Mediterranean and two in western waters).
“We’ll be keeping a close eye on the Commission’s delegated acts”, warned Cadec and Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spain). Others, such as Ulrike Rodust (S&D, Germany), were critical of the delays in adopting the multiannual management plans that are to take over from the discard plans. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)