2023-12-08 14:26:08
If there is a European legislature that the fishing sector will remember, and not exactly for the better, that is the one that will conclude in June 2024, with the arrival of new elections within the Twenty-Seven. Changes are coming – at least it is their will –, and this feeling is closely linked to the restrictive policies that Brussels has raised upon its waters, leaving hanging an activity from which thousands of people in the block live.
With the deadly impact of the veto on bottom fishing in the 87 areas of the North Atlantic more present than ever, just over a year after its entry into force, the latest threat that most worries, bothered and has made shipowners explode and fishermen has been the controversial Action plan which the European Commission (EC) announced on February 21; in which he basically made official the trawling veto in all marine protected areas, proposing to ban it in 30% of the entire community maritime surface in 2030.
Following the “resounding and unanimous” rejection of such rules by Spain, France, Germany and other European Union (EU) countries, it took little time for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius to recant. From his cabinet they assured at the beginning of April that it was not a measure with “binding objectives”, but rather “an invitation to dialogue.”
The debate is served. The proximity of the elections increasingly outlines the political tone of the parliamentary groups and the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament (PECH) has done its homework in recent months; duties whose fruits arrived yesterday. The organization approved, with 20 votes in favor and only four against, the draft report on the aforementioned initiative, which aims to continue surrounding the fishing sector. A document that collects his criticisms and that considers that the Action plan “lacks a coherent approach with other priorities and strategies of the Commission”, “such as guaranteeing food security, the strategic autonomy of the Union and a level playing field with respect to third countries”.
Voices from the fishing sector consulted by Faro de Vigo, from the Prensa Ibérica group, celebrated the PECH verdict this Thursday, interpreting that The position of the MEPs makes it clear to the EC that “this is not the correct way to legislate.” “Another institution proves us right again,” they expressed, adding that Sinkevicius’ policies have focused on the environmental protection of the EU “without taking into account the socioeconomic conditions of fishing.”
The approval of the draft report will take it to Strasbourg. The sources consulted indicate that in January there will be a vote in the European Parliament, which will also predictably mark distances from the measure promulgated by the European Commission. Once he does, thus failing his Action planthe latter will have three months to transfer its position.
What is clear, yes or yes, is that the resolution that comes out of Strasbourg will have to be taken into account in the future by the Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries – if Fisheries is not combined with Agriculture, as the fishing sector demands. –. Whoever is in charge in Brussels.
An “unreal” measure
For now, the PECH sent a statement yesterday in which it states that MEPs criticize the Action plan “unreal” of the EC. Among them is the Galician Francisco Millán Mon, who this Thursday reiterated the need to develop the control regulations through a “close dialogue” with the fishing sector.
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In this regard, the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament emphasizes that The initiative “lacks balance between the protection of biodiversity and the fishing industry,” questions “the Commission’s overly simplistic approach” and considers it essential “that the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFF) should be used to support the transition towards more selective fishing techniques”.
The European Bottom Fishing Alliance (EBFA) also spoke out yesterday following the approval of the draft report that charges against Action planwhich he defined as “another wake-up call from EU legislators to the European Comission, a call that underlines the fact that we can no longer tolerate policies that compromise the survival of the EU fleet and food security.” “It is time for the EC to reconsider its political approach and functioning. The Commission needs to reconsider where it wants seafood products to come from, we are importing 70% of the seafood we eat in the EU,” the entity said.
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