Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries on Monday 25 April generally supported the proposal to extend restrictions on access to EU waters for another 10 years.
The Committee discussed the draft report of its Chairman, Pierre Karleskind (Renew Europe, France), on this issue.
The European Commission has proposed to extend until the end of 2032 the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) allowing Member States, within their 12 nautical mile zone (territorial waters), to derogate from the general rule of equal access of EU fishing vessels to EU waters and resources (see EUROPE 12755/6). The derogation allows Member States to restrict fishing in the 12-mile zone to certain vessels. The restrictions put in place by Member States on the basis of the derogation have reduced fishing pressure in the most biologically sensitive areas.
Mr Karleskind recalled that a review of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement will take place in 2030, 4 years after the end of the adjustment period, which ends on 30 June 2026.
It seems to the rapporteur that 31 December 2032 is a relevant deadline for this review.
Furthermore, the rapporteur believes that the Commission should assess the impact of these water access rules at least one year before the derogations expire, before the co-legislators can express their views on a potential renewal after 2032.
The current CFP rules state that the Commission shall carry out an evaluation on the functioning of the Common Fisheries Policy before 31 December 2022. In order to ensure a continuous evaluation of the CFP, Mr Karleskind suggested that this obligation (evaluation of the CFP) should be renewed every 5 years.
Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA, France) called for a moratorium (ban on access) for fishers using demersal seines. Grace O'Sullivan (Greens/EFA, Ireland) denounced the fact that Irish fishers no longer have access to the 6-12 mile zones.
The debate also revealed that the Commission will not propose a reform of the CFP at the end of 2022, but only an evaluation report.
Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries will vote on the report in May or June. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)