The report endorsed by the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries on the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) “calls for this policy to be better adapted to the difficulties that fishers face on a daily basis”, said MEP Pierre Karleskind (Renew Europe, French) after the vote on Tuesday 24 October (see EUROPE 13277/8).
In adopting (16 votes in favour, 4 against and 1 abstention) the report by Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spanish) on the implementation of the CFP, the Parliament Committee on Fisheries called for recognition of the problems associated with the landing obligation (the end of discarding fish at sea), such as the lack of capacity on board vessels, said the committee’s chair, Mr Karleskind.
To increase stability in the distribution of fishing quotas, MEPs also called for the implementation of multi-year quotas, as proposed by the Commission (see EUROPE 13279/15).
The 30 compromise amendments (https://aeur.eu/f/99e ) were adopted at the vote, as were numerous amendments tabled by the S&D and Renew Europe groups and by the rapporteur, Mr Mato.
“If we want to achieve a genuine decarbonisation of the European fisheries sector”, the latter said, “we need to adapt regulations to the need for space and volume on board, as well as providing adequate financial support for operators”. He added that the option of building vessels with public funds should be considered, which is an issue that divides MEPs. Mr Mato’s own-initiative report will be adopted at the Parliament plenary session in December. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)