EU fisheries ministers were somewhat critical in Luxembourg on Monday 18 June of the proposal to toughen fisheries controls (see EUROPE 12030).
Dutch minister Carola Schouten said that the provisions on sanctions and setting a minimum level contravened her country’s legal system. “Sanctions are a member state competence”, she said. She criticised the cost and the red tape of the new rules, notably on the weighing of catches landed.
Danish minister Eva Kjer Hansen suggested that the Commission should submit a list of proposed control simplification measures. She made the case for on-board cameras to ensure compliance with the ban on discarding fish at sea.
France backed improving monitoring of small vessels (electronic tracking devices and catch reporting) “on condition that this is compatible with the characteristics of these fleets”. Some of the proposals are problematic for France, such as the system for monitoring engine power and the compulsory fitting of on-board cameras to check compliance with the landing requirement.
Germany wants to avoid overly bureaucratic provisions. It welcomes the proposals on sanctions for infringements but wants the same level of penalties to apply throughout the EU (it said that, potentially, a sanctions cap might be put in place).
Spain, too, was critical of the proposals on monitoring vessel power and called for the phasing in of the new rules extending the electronic recording of catches to small vessels. Spain backed harmonisation of sanctions, though without going as far as a list of minimum sanctions.
Italy criticised some provisions extending the rules (satellite surveillance, electronic logbooks) to small vessels. Italy, like France and Lithuania notably, was against the requirement to fit on-board cameras.
Leisure fishing. A number of countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, protested against the new rules applying to leisure fishing (permit registration). Leisure fishing measures should relate to sensitive species which are under significant pressure, said French minister Stéphane Travert. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)