Brussels, 17/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament fisheries committee has rejected, as expected, the draft regulation on fishing in the Mediterranean. It followed the line of its rapporteur Giorgio Lisi (Forza Italia), approving the Commission's rejection of the proposals by 15 votes for, 2 against with 4 abstentions. The rapporteur, indicating that the former regulation still, however, was in force, said in a press statement that this vote "sent a clear message to the European Commission: we do not accept your methods, we do not agree with your approach, come back as soon as possible with a proposal that takes into account the specific nature of fishing in the Mediterranean, the international context in the Mediterranean basin, the significant social-economic consequences but, above all, the irreplaceable experience of fishermen and their associations". The plenary vote is expected on 1 April.
Claudio Fava (Democratici di sinistra) repeated that Commissioner Fischer's proposal was impossible to amend and had to be rejected. He criticised the European Commission for not having taking into account comments made by the fisheries sector and for having produced a proposal that ignored differences between the fishing industry in the North Sa and the "artisans' tradition that still existed in the Mediterranean".