On Monday 23 February, Ireland’s Fisheries Minister Timmy Dooley called for a fair international agreement to be made at the consultations taking place next week between coastal states on mackerel fishing in the north-east Atlantic (see EUROPE 13794/34).
Last December, a quadripartite agreement (United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands) was concluded without consulting the EU (see EUROPE 13779/12).
Ireland was supported by twelve countries (including Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain).
The European Commissioner for Fisheries, Costas Kadis, has stated that the EU’s interests in the mackerel stock are “non-negotiable”. He pointed out that the four-way partial agreement infringes the legitimate rights of the European Union as a coastal state and does not deal with overfishing in a serious manner.
Most coastal states have not yet set their quotas for 2026, so there is still some time to act. A new round of consultations is scheduled to take place in Copenhagen on 5 and 6 March. According to the European Commission, all stakeholders must work towards a fair and sustainable outcome. Mr Kadis said that the Commission will continue to do its utmost to defend the EU’s interests as a coastal state, and all options would remain open. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)