“Time is running out, it would be very important for both the EU and the UK to reach an agreement” on future relations between the parties, German Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner told members of the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries on Thursday 3 September.
Presenting the priorities of the German Presidency of the EU Council in the fisheries field, Julia Klöckner said that preparations had to be made for the absence of an agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU. But she refuted any idea of ‘plan B’.
She reiterated that the agreement will have to respect the interests of both the EU and the UK. “Fisheries cannot be separated from the overall economic agreement” between the EU and the UK, she said. There has been no substantial progress in the negotiations, she acknowledged. She recalled that the European Council had foreseen a total of 5 billion euros to mitigate the effects of Brexit.
EMFF. Julia Klöckner said she would try to advance negotiations between the European Parliament and the EU Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 2021-2027. “But there will probably not be an agreement before 2021” between the EU Council and Parliament on this issue, said the German Presidency. Aid to the fleet must not increase fishing capacity, Mrs Klöckner stressed.
She considered the means provided for in the EU 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) “sufficient” to address the crisis arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
Controls. The EU Council will try to reach a ‘partial general approach’ on the proposal revising controls in the autumn, the German Minister said. She called for simple methods and a transitional period to give fishermen time to adapt to the new rules.
Mrs Klöckner considered that cameras on board vessels could be an effective way in the future to monitor fishermen’s compliance with the discard ban. But this brings challenges, the Minister acknowledged, particularly with regard to data protection.
Electric fishing. We must ensure that we have the necessary scientific basis for electric fishing, the German Minister said. This provoked the anger of the Chairman of the Committee on Fisheries, Pierre Karleskind (Renew Europe, France): “There is a European Regulation on electric fishing, so before discussing it, we should apply the Regulation”.
Transparency. Mr Karleskind also criticised the German Presidency of the EU Council for replying that it would do “business as usual” in terms of transparency on methods and documents on total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas, while the European Ombudsman called for the EU Council to publish a series of documents and considered “that what the EU Council is doing is maladministration”, according to the Chairman of Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries.
Aid for cod fishermen in the Baltic. A proposal has been announced providing for aid to cod fishermen in the Baltic (aid for temporary cessation and for scrapping vessels). The text is in negotiation in trilogue between Parliament and the EU Council. “The aim is to have an agreement in October”, Mrs Klöckner said.
Link to the German Presidency paper on aid to cod fishermen in the Baltic: https://bit.ly/2F62Ql9 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)