Brussels, 16/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament, when it adopts the report by Elspeth Attwooll (ALDE, UK) on governance within the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) on Friday 24 April, is expected to ask the European Commission “to fully respect the advisory role of the RACs” (Regional Advisory Councils) and to propose, in view of the forthcoming CFP review, “their increasing involvement in management responsibilities”. The reform of the CFP should “should take full advantage of the consolidation of the RACs for an increased decentralisation of the CFP, in order that common measures adopted may be applied in the different zones in line with the specific peculiarities of different fisheries and fishing conditions,” says the report, which is unlikely to be amended in plenary session.
The EP will also call for members of its fisheries committee to be given observer status at meetings of the Council of Fisheries Ministers. Parliament will also: - point out that the fisheries sector is still “not considered to have a sufficient say” in the decisions affecting it; - highlight the differences, in terms of roles and operation, between the ACFA (Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture) and RACs, (the former performs an advisory role extending to the CFP as a whole and covers the entire Community area, whereas the role of RACs is to give specialised advice within their spheres of influence).
The EP will call on the Commission to take the following measures in respect of RACs: - increase their visibility and encourage participation by a wider range of stakeholders; - improve their access to scientific evidence and data and liaison with STECF (Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries); - involve them as early as possible in the consultation process; - provide benchmarks to allow an assessment of the consistency of their advice with CFP objectives and to debrief them on the use made of it. Furthermore, MEPs considers that RACS are currently under-financed for the level of work that they are undertaking and believe that “wider participation” in RACs requires a review of their composition but that “the current balance between the fishing industry and other organisations should not be disturbed”. The EP will express its disquiet at the fact some organisations serving in RACs as “other interest groups” repeatedly take advantage of their presence, even though they might be in the minority, to block decisions supported by a majority of fisheries sector representatives and obstruct decision-taking by consensus. Parliament will also call for any future legislation on RACs to afford members of the European Parliament formal status as active observers at their meetings. (L.C./transl.rt)