The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU has several important tasks in the area of fisheries policy, with a compromise desired on the recast of the control rules and conclusions expected regarding the functioning of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), Swedish Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren told MEPs on Tuesday 24 January.
He presented the priorities of his country, which holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council until the end of June, to the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries.
Answering questions on the CFP from several MEPs, including Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spanish) and Isabel Carvalhais (S&D, Portuguese), Mr Kullgren said that the European Commission will present its communication (a report) on the functioning of the CFP early this year. The EU Council is planning to adopt conclusions on this issue in June. He said that the Commission was supposed to present this report on the CFP last December, but due to delays it will have to be presented in the spring instead.
Furthermore, Mr Mato presented his draft report (https://aeur.eu/f/51f ) on the CFP, advocating a paradigm shift in this policy, with more “pragmatic and achievable” objectives. He criticised the “rigid” nature of the targets for Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) and for the landing obligation (end of discards). Mr Mato considered that imported seafood products should be subject to (high) environmental and social standards similar to those applied in the EU.
The reform of the control system is “one of the top priorities”, according to Mr Kullgren, who has scheduled meetings at the technical and political levels on this issue by the end of June. Topics yet to be addressed include recreational fishing, traceability of fisheries products and remote monitoring of vessels. He said he hoped for a general EU Council/European Parliament agreement by the end of June on this recast of the control rules.
He also evoked the upcoming negotiations that the Commission will have to conduct on behalf of the EU with Morocco, concerning the future of the fisheries protocol between the parties (after the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union), and hoped for a favourable outcome in the EU/Norway fisheries consultations in the near future (the 2023 quotas regulation will have to be amended accordingly).
The Swedish minister pointed out that February 2023 is the new date for the European Commission to adopt the action plan for the conservation of fisheries resources and the protection of marine ecosystems (see EUROPE 13075/7).
A Swedish secretary of state has been fined for illegal eel fishing, Peter Kullgren has confirmed with regret. He justified the restrictions that the EU Council decided upon last December to save eel stocks in the EU (see EUROPE 13083/15). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)