During the European fisheries ministers’ meeting on Monday, 30 March, Germany warned against the growing complexity of the rules governing the control of fishing operations.
According to Germany, the text increases bureaucracy and complicates the work of companies operating in the sector as well as that of the competent authorities (see EUROPE 13666/10).
In particular, the European Commission’s draft on weighing fishery products has been called into question: the requirements regarding records, weighing systems, and control plans are deemed to be disproportionate and sometimes even impracticable. Germany is calling for urgent adjustments to be made so as to not weaken the sector’s competitiveness.
The country stresses the need for simplification in other areas, specifically the IT system CATCH and the mandatory reporting of catches from recreational fishing.
Berlin is putting pressure on the European Commission to quickly propose concrete measures to reduce the administrative burden.
According to France, the revision of the regulations on control as well as their implementation through delegated or implementing acts have “increased the administrative burden and cost of control”. Paris believes that any new control mechanism must be justified and realistic, which does not always seem to be the case in the draft regulation on weighing—notably mentioning the removal of the deduction of water and ice and even the installation of cameras at landing sites.
Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands insisted on the need for simplification.
See the German note: https://aeur.eu/f/le9 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)