Brussels, 22/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - Speaking to press on Monday 21 January, French Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier softened the tone of the comments made a few days ago by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the inflexibility of European fisheries quotas.
On 19 January, Sarkozy said that he was going to initiate a “strong, in-depth dialogue (on fisheries quotas) with the European Commission before the end of the month”. “We have to break out of this quota business,” he said, and he indicated that he would use the French presidency of the Council of the EU (from 1 July until 31 December of this year) to sort things out. He said he wanted a “much more flexible response” to fisheries problems, “whatever the species and wherever the fishing grounds”.
“There is no need to be drawn into argument,” Barnier told press. In December 2007 already, after the Fisheries Council, Barnier had been critical of a system which, he said, consisted of
“spending one dramatic night” sharing out and exchanging quotas. The whole system had to be totally reviewed.
This did not mean getting rid of quotas (one of the methods used to manage the Common Fisheries Policy), but improving the system, Barnier said, setting out his ideas: - quotas should be set for three years, not for one single year, to let fishers know better where they stood; - more regular meetings should be held to allow scientists and fishers to compare information so as to avoid discrepancies in figures on the state of the resource. The issue of the Hague preference still caused problems because of the substantial falls (up to 40%) in some quotas (in applying this preference).
More generally, of the French sometimes provoking the Commission and EU countries, Barnier said that “No one should get worried” that France was back with its temperament, with the new dynamism brought by its new president. “It's the opposite that would be worrying” for the other states. It was the opposite that was worrying “when France voted no …, deadlocked the system and caused political breakdown in the Union,” he said.
The European Commission for its part noted that quotas were “essential” for the conservation of stocks, and had a role in the management of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The spokeswoman for European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg, also pointed out that, since its 2002 reform, measures had been taken to improve the CFP (such as multi-annual plans for managing stocks). The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU said that “the objective (of the EU) is to have sustainable fishing activity and quotas are one of the instruments we need” for this purpose. German Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Horst Seehofer warned against a wholesale calling into question of the system. “Ultimately, not having quotas will not be of any use to fishermen if, at the same time, they no longer have any fish,” he said. “We cannot put economic interests above all other interests,” he added, while indicating he was ready to “discuss” the idea of multi-annual quotas. (L.C.)