Strasbourg, 21/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - Last Thursday, in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted the report by Ian Stewart Hudghton, which calls for greater flexibility regarding plans to restore stocks of cod and hake (see detailed summary in EUROPE of 14 and 15 January, p.15). The Parliament insists that the reduction in technical measures and fishing effort should be based on scientific opinions that are "reliable, independent and well-founded", and that the European Commission should make public "precise, long-term scientific opinions on the conditions to be followed during the realisation of stock rebuilding plans". The Commission is also invited to present a detailed analysis of the socio-economic risks linked to the consequences of the recovery plans and to prepare measures intended to compensate workers in the fisheries sector whose professional activity is affected by cod and hake catch reductions.