Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, announced on Thursday 28 January, in an exclusive interview with EUROPE, that the European Commission will start negotiations with the United Kingdom (and Norway) next week on fisheries opportunities for 2021. He also took stock of the state of discussions on the continuation of fisheries in the Channel Islands and specified that there would be no in-depth reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2022, as the provisions of the current CFP have yet to be implemented (Interview in French by Lionel Changeur).
Agence Europe – You announced on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached for provisional licences in the waters of Jersey. When and how the final licences will be allocated by the United Kingdom in those waters?
Virginijus Sinkevičius – National authorities have until end of April to collect the required historic data of fisheries in those waters to provide the data to the Commission, but they are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. The Commission checks the data and sends it to the UK authorities. Usually, the permits are issued as soon as possible, and our British counterpart makes sure that the data are relevant. We already went through it on the aforementioned 12-nautical mile zone. Overall, 1300 vessels from the UE have received full licences. For the 6-12 nautical miles, we have already sent the required information to the UK authorities (119 vessels from a few Member States), and we hope the first batch of 78 (or 79) vessels are going to receive the licence as soon as this week or the next. And then the second batch (around 50 vessels) shortly after it.
The Commission is engaged in consultations with the UK and Norway to establish the final fishing opportunities for 2021 for the shared stocks. How will you negotiate the quota cuts that are foreseen in the Brexit Agreement and the new allocation of quotas among Member States?
The Commission’s proposal was discussed on Monday during the videoconference meeting of EU Fisheries Ministers. Yesterday at the Coreper meeting the mandate of the Commission was confirmed. It will be finalised this week through a written procedure, and the Commission will begin the consultations next week. After each consultation round, the Commission will debrief the Member States to make sure that we reach a balanced agreement that is satisfactory to all Member States.
The €5-billion Brexit Adjustment Reserve was criticised, on Monday, by some MEPs, mainly Spanish. Do you think that the proposal of the Commission needs to be adjusted?
I am very proud of what we proposed for fisheries. If you look at the proportionality, none of the funds would have such a high proportionality dedicated to fisheries. For the allocation between the Member States, we had to take into account the real impact on those Member States to mitigate that impact. The proposal is now in the hands of the co-legislators (European Parliament and Council of the EU), and they are able to propose amendments. I am sure that we will find the most balanced agreement.
Do you think the sector needs to adjust its fishing capacity to take into account the new context?
It’s too soon to say. It will depend on the health of fish stocks. If we have healthy fish stocks, I am sure that we are going to have thriving fishing communities. If our fish stocks are going to be fished unsustainably, we will not be able to maintain those jobs.
Do you think that the suspensive clauses in the Brexit agreement will be enough to deter the UK from closing its waters to EU vessels after 2025?
I don’t want t to jump into any conclusion. It is still 5-and-a-half years to go. I have spoken with the UK Minister, and we both agree that we will do our best to make sure that the agreement is fully respected by both sides. I can assure the fisheries community that the Commission is going to follow the market very closely.
How would you implement the European Green Deal in the common fisheries policy, taking into account the big debate on marine protected areas (MPAs)?
MPAs do not necessarily mean that you are not allowed to fish. That is still to be decided. Of course, we will listen to fishermen on MPAs, because we have to ensure the livelihood of our coastal communities. Fishermen are not going to be barred from the waters, and any solutions proposed by the Commission and discussed and adopted by the Member States will be balanced.
A new study (in the journal Nature) finds that, since 1970, the global abundance of oceanic sharks and rays has declined by 71%. What could we do to avert a disaster?
It is clear that we should use more selective devices or temporarily close certain areas. We have to evaluate; we take the best scientific advice available. We are ready to act upon scientific opinions.
What do you propose to revise the Common Fisheries Policy by 2022?
There won’t be a major reform of the CFP that would grounder-invent the wheel. Indeed, the implementation of the current policy is so deficient that it would be unwise to proceed with another reform when fishermen haven’t been able to fully implement the current CFP. We are going to do the review. The review has to take into account other factors that have an impact on fish stocks, such as climate change, eutrophication, raising sea temperatures. We have to look into solutions taking into account these broader aspects.