The European Parliament's rapporteur on aid to cod fishermen in the Eastern Baltic, Niclas Herbst (PPE, German), broadly follows the Council's position on this dossier (see EUROPE 12391/6).
The European Commission has criticised the rapporteur's initial position, as it aims to remove the control provisions and the extension of the scope of the regulation to aid for cod and herring fishermen in the Western Baltic.
During a debate in the Parliament’s Fisheries Committee on this proposal on Monday 20 January, which provides for extraordinary aid (aid for scrapping vessels) for cod fishermen in the Eastern Baltic, the Commission representative stressed the need to find a "structural solution to a structural problem". We should not spend a large amount of money and find ourselves in the same situation in 4 years' time, the Commission warned. In its view, aid should be concentrated on a single stock, namely cod in the Eastern Baltic, which suffers from causes other than fishing (diseases). "This stock cannot be compared with the cod and herring stocks in the Western Baltic", the Commission argued. It criticised the removal of the control provisions. The Parliamentary committee vote on this text is scheduled for March. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)