Negotiations between the EU institutions on a Regulation to reform control procedures for fishing activities are due to resume on 29 September, sources said on Thursday 28 July.
An 8th trilogue took place in mid-July under the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, which has made this issue its number one fisheries priority (see EUROPE 12991/21).
The objective of the Czech Presidency is to bring the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to a compromise on the Commission’s proposal by the end of 2022.
During the trilogue in mid-July, the Czech Presidency of the EU Council discussed with Parliament’s negotiating team the following topics: weighing of fisheries products, vessel monitoring system, recreational fisheries, and control and landing obligations.
On weighing, the EU Council and Parliament discussed the maximum quantity of fishery products for private purchases. This point will be raised again during the next trilogues, particularly with regard to the best way to formulate this exception. The negotiators also discussed the exemption from the obligation to have a transport document.
With regard to the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), the EU Council has presented a revised mandate to reduce the length of vessels subject to the VMS requirement. The EU Council’s initial position was to provide for a simplified VMS system for vessels under 12 metres and an exemption for those under nine metres (see EUROPE 12750/5). For Parliament, all vessels should be equipped with a geolocation tool allowing them to be tracked and identified automatically.
With regard to the control of the landing obligation through the Remote Electronic Monitoring System (REM), the Czech Presidency of the EU Council has reportedly proposed to reduce the threshold for which vessels need to be equipped with REM. The EU Council’s initial position was that ships over 24 metres should install REM systems, compared to 12 metres or more under Parliament’s position. Negotiators will return to this issue later.
For the first time, the parties discussed recreational fishing. “There is an ocean between what the EU Council wants and what Parliament wants”, said rapporteur on recreational fishing Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spanish) at the last meeting of Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries on 12 July.
Mrs Aguilera said she wanted an agreement “in December” with the EU Council on the Controls Regulation. She and others, including Manuel Pizarro (S&D, Portuguese), deplored the “blackmail” by the Commission, which threatens to “withdraw the proposal” if it is not satisfied with the compromise reached. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)