Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner-designate for Environment and Oceans, demonstrated a thorough knowledge of his mission statement and the challenges of sustainability at his joint hearing before the European Parliament's Environment and Fisheries Committees on Thursday 3 October, without always answering MEPs' questions precisely. However, he was applauded at the end of his performance in English.
The recent Minister of Economy and Innovation of his country, who was determined to be the architect of the European Green Deal, “under the direction of Frans Timmermans” and in collaboration with the College of Commissioners, he said on many occasions, both true, in his opinion, and the protection of the development of the circular economy and the blue economy are interdependent and complementary for the future of the planet, “the health, well-being and quality of life of citizens”, including fishermen.
“For me, Europe is about freedom, fairness, openness, but also about taking responsibility. The climate demonstrations have shown that Generations Y and Z are ready to take their responsibilities. 2050 is not a goal on a piece of paper, it's something we're going to have to live with. My first objective will be to make the Green Deal a reality,” said the man who “was born after the fall of the Berlin Wall”.
“I hope there will be more 28-year-old Commissioners in the future, because we need all generations. We are waiting for precise answers”, Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, France) said at the beginning of the debate.
On the biodiversity front, the target of zero pollution, the circular economy and the oceans, he presented himself above all as a man of dialogue, advocating flexibility and the proper implementation of EU legislation, without going beyond his written replies (see EUROPE 12338/5, 12337/3).
Biodiversity. Mr Sinkevičius will prepare the EU's 2030 strategy by ensuring that new biodiversity standards are integrated into relevant sectoral policies (Agriculture, Energy, Transport) and will defend the EU's position at the UN conference in China next year, but has not indicated what level of ambition it aims to achieve. “There will be a 2030 target, as there was a target for 2010 and 2020”.
To Pietro Fiocchi (ECR, Italy) and Liudas Mazylis (EPP, Lithuania), who asked whether legislation should be amended to limit damage caused by cormorants, wild boars and wolves, he replied that there was “no miracle solution”, pleading for a “solution of coexistence” with livestock farmers and citizens, and for “using the flexibility provided by the Habitats Directive”.
‘Zero pollution’ objective. “As a father, citizen and Commissioner, I want a clean Europe, clean air, clean water, a safe chemical industry”, said Mr Sinkevičius. This points to the need to further address hazardous chemicals and endocrine disrupters and to look for non-chemical alternatives to pesticides. Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Sweden) asked about concrete measures that can be taken to protect our children from continued exposure. The Lithuanian, father of one child, said it was necessary to “make better use of the REACH Regulation” and assured that he would work on developing a strategy for a non-toxic environment.
Plastic. To Frédérique Ries (Renew Europe, Belgium), perplexed by the idea that he wanted to identify biodegradable applications of microplastics, he replied that “a clear regulatory framework for biodegradable plastics is needed”.
With regard to the environmental impact of medicines, he did not intend to present any legislation, believing that the result of the current fitness check of water legislation should be available first.
Circular economy. The Commissioner-designate will prepare a new action plan, but has not commented on whether it is appropriate to revise the Ecodesign Directive or to present a new directive, as Mohammed Chahim (S&D, Netherlands) asked him to do.
Evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy in 2022. Virginijus Sinkevičius has advocated for “healthy oceans and fish stocks” and is committed to ensuring the successful implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). He will have to evaluate the CFP by the end of 2022, in order, according to him, to “identify areas where difficulties still exist”. In particular, he stressed the need to take into account the different sea basins and identified actions to be undertaken in these areas: – new rules in the Arctic to protect biodiversity; – continuing the fight against illegal fishing; – improvement of controls on fisheries activity.
Several MEPs regretted that fisheries were no longer mentioned in the portfolio title of the future position to be filled by Mr Sinkevičius. “It is important to look beyond the title” of the portfolio and find solutions to the problems faced by fishermen, he replied. He also admitted that the environment should not be separated from fisheries.
Mediterranean. The Commissioner-designate considered that progress had been made in restoring some stocks (in this sea where 87% of stocks are overexploited) and that the fish resource needed to be better assessed.
Brexit and the future relationship with the United Kingdom. When asked about this issue, Mr Sinkevičius stressed that “fisheries should not be excluded from a future agreement”.
Of the 2021-2027 budget of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), down by 6%, as proposed by the Commission, the Commissioner-designate only indicated that “we will try to best meet the needs of fishermen”. He acknowledged that, in the evaluation of the CFP, the environmental priorities arising from the Green Deal will have to be integrated. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and Lionel Changeur)