Brussels, 27/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - EU member states are not yet able to endorse the regulation on the revised recovery plan for bluefin tuna. Italy still expresses reservation on the text, in particular on the method for calculating fishing capacity. On Friday 27 March within Coreper (the committee of permanent representatives of EU member states), Italy therefore objected to the regulation being adopted without debate (in point A) during the EU Council of Ministers on Monday 30 March.
The Czech EU Presidency has said it “is working very hard to solve the objection of this member state quickly” and points out that the dossier will be examined again by Coreper on Wednesday 1 April. The Czech Presidency is working with the European Commission, which is seeking to answer Italian concerns with a written declaration. There is qualified majority on this text but unanimity is needed between EU member states to have the Council adopt an act in “point A”.
The regulation proposed aims to transpose into Community law the decisions taken at the end of 2008 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The recovery plan in question provides for: - the fisheries harvest year for purse seiners (i.e. 15 April to 15 June) to be shortened by four months; - the immediate freeze of fishing capacity of EU fleets at 2007-2008 levels before the establishment of programmes to reduce this capacity; - an obligation to make video recordings during fishing and farming activities available to inspectors; - a ban on all imports or exports of bluefin tuna for which there is no quota; - the establishment of national fisheries plans and the attribution of individual quotas to vessels over 24 metres long; - the establishment of specific quotas for sports and recreational fishing, imputable to national quotas; - the establishment of a strict control framework for joint fishing operations; - and a ban on transferring tuna to farms without the prior authorisation of the fishing vessel's flag state. (L.C./transl.jl)