The European Commission is expected to present a proposal on Wednesday 1 April to amend the current rules to allow “exceptional” measures for EU fishermen and aquaculture farmers whose activities are suffering heavily from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, was thus reportedly responding to pressing requests from professionals, certain MEPs, and Member States where the sector is important, including Spain and France (see EUROPE 12456/13 and 12456/11).
To allow for so-called exceptional measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission is reportedly proposing to amend not only the regulation on the common market organisation (CMO) for agricultural markets, but also the regulation on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 2014-2020.
These amendments are required to authorise Community compensation during the pandemic (temporary cessation of fishing and aquaculture activities) and to reintroduce the possibility of granting storage aid to producer organisations for fisheries products for which no buyers can be found. The proposal is expected to be adopted quickly by the EU Council and European Parliament. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)