Policies

Committee on Fisheries

As the Community was created to ensure peace and promote prosperity in Europe, among the policies adopted to achieve these goals was the encouragement of economic development in regions suffering from a lack of jobs and opportunities. The EPP-ED Group firmly believes that fisheries and aquaculture have an important role to play in implementing this policy of economic and social cohesion. The two sectors employ 526,034 people, both men and women, and their combined production value (fisheries, aquaculture, processing and marketing) amounted to 7 million tonnes in 2003 (the EU has the second biggest fisheries sector in the world, after China).

So, a common fisheries policy (CFP) is essential to the European Union. This policy must cover the biological, economic and social dimensions of fisheries.

The EPP-ED Group and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)

The CFP consists of four aspects which centre on the following areas:

• conservation of resources and control of fishing activities: protecting fish stocks by regulating the quantity of fish caught;



• structural measures to adapt and modernise the sector: helping fisheries and aquaculture sectors to adapt their equipment and structure;



• market-oriented measures and commercial policy: maintaining a common market organisation for fisheries products;



• external fisheries policy: setting up fisheries partnership agreements and negotiating common measures for protecting offshore fishing on a national level within regional and international fisheries organisations.

1. Management: the need for responsible fisheries management

The EPP-ED Group has reaffirmed the need for fish stocks to recover. The Group considers that the issue of the pressure exerted on resources by fishing activity cannot be addressed by seeking a uniform, global solution. On the contrary, the unique characteristics of each fisheries zone must be taken into account along with the specific features of the various fish species, particularly their life cycles; at the same time, the social importance of the fishing industry must not be forgotten.

The EPP-ED Group deplores the waste of high-quality proteins in the form of fish discards and has called for a system to be implemented to eliminate or substantially reduce such discards. Lastly, the EPP-ED Group has also stressed the importance of taking an integrated approach to the management of maritime and coastal areas.


2. Control and application: ensuring correct application of the rules as the basis of a successful fisheries policy

The EPP-ED Group believes that, to be effective and fair, controls should be applied in a uniform way to all vessels. To this end the Group calls upon the European Union to close its ports to:

• fishing vessels or fish transport vessels flying flags of convenience,



• fishing vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,



• fish transport vessels that have transshipped cargo from such vessels.

3. Structural aspect: contributing to the purpose of the CFP and strengthening economic and social cohesion

The EPP-ED Group is aware that the reduction of the fleet involves an enormous socio-economic sacrifice and we believe that although it is necessary to reach an optimum balance between the fleet and the resources available in Community waters, this must not be done without any regard for consequences nor must it be to the detriment of the economic and social sector that depends on fisheries. The EPP-ED Group agrees with the sector’s demand that the Community should continue to help modernise the fleet via the new European Fisheries Fund, using structural measures and by improving living conditions and safety on board, without generating an increase in the fishing effort.


4. Market policy: guaranteeing sustainable fishing activity and ensuring the sector’s future

The EPP-ED Group has called on the Commission to maximise the functioning of the European Union market by:

• increasing producer-participation in managing the market;



• reinforcing competitiveness in the European Union, above all in the fresh fish-based products sector;



• promoting integration and transparency of the market by initiating cooperation between the actors and improving information on landings and quality.

Finally, the EPP-ED Group called for the definition of new methods to improve the quality of fish products, in order to initiate specific promotional campaigns for Community products, both traditional and new, including an ecological EU labelling system to lay down requirements in terms of durability.


5. International fisheries relations: integrating the CFP in the Union's foreign policy

The EPP-ED Group stresses the international dimension of the CFP and calls for the external aspect to give special attention to the environmental problems in third countries, with particular emphasis on preserving developing countries’ biodiversity. The Group also believes that the European Union must ensure its Common Fisheries Policy is in line with its development and cooperation policy and that it supports the latter when acting on its principal strategic objective -namely poverty reduction in developing countries.

The EPP-ED Group recognises the growing importance of the role of regional fisheries organisations as mechanisms for managing the marine environment and fisheries resources in exclusive economic zones and, above all, on the high seas.


6. Aquaculture: an increasingly important sector

The EPP-ED Group firmly believes that the aquaculture sector, with a total of 1.3 million tonnes of fisheries products per year, must play a role in supplying the EU market. In order to achieve this objective it is necessary to guarantee that the aquaculture sector is committed to respecting the environment and reducing the negative effects of waste, resolving the problem of alien species and genetically modified organisms, preventing pollution and carrying out environmental impact studies.


7. Governance: increased participation of the sector and interested parties in decision-making

The EPP-ED Group believes that despite the progress achieved in terms of strengthening dialogue with interested parties, the fisheries sector consultation during the CFP reform in 2002 clearly showed that more must be done. To respond to this lack, the EPP-ED Group firmly advocated the establishment of a network of regional advisory councils (RAC), including fishermen, scientists and other stakeholders on a regional level.


8. Simplification: a priority for the EU

Finally, the EPP-ED Group is opposed to any simplification procedure that may grant the EU executive more power to take unilateral decisions, as this would be contrary to the Commission’s obligation to inform the European Parliament. The EPP-ED Group has been a long-time advocate of the need to either enlarge the competencies of the European Parliament Committee on Fisheries or to introduce the codecision procedure in the legislative process.


9. The environmental aspect of the CFP

The EPP-ED Group is of the opinion that the European Union should formally support new methods aimed at reducing the impact of fisheries on the marine environment, which is affected, in some cases, by over-exploitation and waste of resources. At the same time, the socio-economic consequences that these methods inevitably produce in the short term must be taken into account. The deterioration of the marine environment is not solely down to fishing activities, given that marine resources are the first to be negatively affected by the enormous impact of human and industrial activity.


10. Research: imperative for responsible fishing

Against this background, the EPP-ED Group believes that research efforts contribute to ensuring the maintenance of the sector’s productivity and supply indispensable information on the proper management of living marine resources.


11. Maritime affairs: a Union maritime policy for the oceans and seas

The EPP-ED Group believes that it is time to think of the sea as a whole. While avoiding possible conflicts, this approach would help to optimise the advantages that the sea gives us while effectively protecting the resource affected: the marine environment.

The EPP-ED Group takes the view that the coordination of the various sectors involved in maritime affairs is essential to realising the full potential of EU maritime interests. Finally, the EPP-ED Group calls for the adoption of a long-term strategy to preserve coastal defences, protect against rising sea levels and minimise habitat loss.