The European organisation Europêche said on Tuesday 13 February that it shares the “frustration” of angry farmers over “imbalanced and unworkable EU policies strangling fishing companies across the EU”.
Europêche discussed with the Member States the future structure of the European Commission and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) after the 2024 legislative cycle.
The European fisheries industry has called for the socio-economic and food safety dimensions of the CFP to be strengthened. Europêche has recommended a review of failed European policies such as the landing obligation. According to Europêche, the EU must return to a model where primary food production is at the top of the Commission’s agenda and structure during the 2024-2029 mandate.
The industry denounces Norway’s “aggressive” policy against EU interests, citing illegal catches of cod, the ban on fishing methods (beam trawling) in Norwegian waters, and the unilateral setting of large mackerel quotas. Europêche has called on EU Member States to block the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement and end the tax exemptions granted to Norwegian fisheries products entering the EU market.
In addition, the associations representing fishers in Spain will decide next week whether to join the farmers’ protests. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)