The EU Fisheries Ministers will be meeting informally on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 July in Vigo, Spain, to discuss ways of ensuring the energy transition and decarbonisation of the fisheries sector.
Spain, virtually the only EU country to hold informal ministerial meetings on fisheries, also wishes to make the link with the need for public investment in the safety and modernisation of Europe’s fishing fleet (see EUROPE 13126/1).
The Ministers’ debates on 18 July will be in two parts. The first working session on the energy transition will be attended by representatives from the fisheries sector and the Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries, Pierre Karleskind (Renew Europe, French), the European Parliament’s rapporteur on decarbonisation.
At the second session, the Member States’ Fisheries Ministers will discuss ways of promoting viable solutions for the fisheries sector through investment in sustainability, innovation and digitalisation.
The Ministers will assess whether the support and rules of the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) are sufficient as they stand. According to the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, it would seem necessary to consider amending the regulatory framework to ensure a modern, competitive and energy-efficient fleet.
The European fishing fleet currently comprises more than 61,000 vessels, the average age of which, at around 30 years, is too high. The Spanish sector has 8,657 vessels, 90% of which operate in national waters.
Galicia is home to almost half of Spain’s vessels, and the fishing port of Vigo is considered one of the world’s leading fishing ports (in 2021, over €176 million worth of fish products were marketed there). Vigo is also home to the European Fisheries Control Agency. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)