On 25 April, the Dutch minister for agriculture, Piet Adema, wrote to Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for Fisheries, asking him to carry out an assessment and simplification of Community rules on fisheries.
The letter, seen by Agence Europe, has the support of the Belgian, Cypriot, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Maltese and Romanian ministers. It points out that fishers are faced with complex regulations and increasing administrative tasks, against a backdrop of rising costs.
The Netherlands refers to the rule on the landing obligation (an end to discarding fish at sea) and calls for a “review of EU fleet policy” to “eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens that limit the development of a sustainable fishing fleet”.
The signatories call for an exercise similar to that undertaken in the agricultural sector (a relaxation of the Common Agricultural Policy rules) to be carried out in the fisheries sector, as well as a “complete assessment of the administrative burden” on fisheries companies, taking into account the regulation on controls (see EUROPE 13403/13). This exercise should be accompanied by an “inventory of options for reducing administrative tasks and simplifying regulations” and making them easier to implement for fishers and administrations.
On Monday 29 April, the Danish delegation called for “a simplification of fisheries regulations and a reduction of the administrative burden”. Italy has also advocated simplification efforts. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)