On Monday 18 September, the Spanish Fisheries Minister, Luis Planas, criticised Norway’s “unilateral” position in setting total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for itself that are “unacceptable” to the EU.
On Monday, the EU Fisheries Ministers held an exchange of views on the consultations with Norway and the coastal states concerning fishing opportunities in 2024.
Mr Planas stated that “if Norway intends to increase its catches in order to sell them to the EU, the principle of reciprocity must be applied from a commercial point of view in order to defend the EU’s fishing interests”.
The EU is also in talks with the United Kingdom on TACs and quotas for 2024. Luis Planas stressed that the agreement had to be concluded before 10 December in order to avoid a proportional extension of the current agreement, as has happened in the past. With regard to the latter agreement, he highlighted Spanish interests in northern hake, monkfish and megrim. The ministers also discussed the management of fish stocks shared with the United Kingdom for 2024. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)