Debate: Implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy and future perspectives
Date: THURSDAY, 18 JANUARY 2024
Speaker: Virginijus Sinkevičius
Language: EN

I would like to, first of all, start by thanking the rapporteur, Mr Mato, and all shadow rapporteurs for the work they have put into this report, and I truly welcome that it acknowledges the importance and the merits of the common fisheries policy and of its main objective to achieve environmental, economic and social sustainability. I agree with you that the compliance and implementation of the landing obligations remain challenging. Your report asked for a socio-economic impact analysis, which the Commission has already carried out in 2022 and which has shown that the landing obligation so far has not had a big impact, including socio-economically, as unfortunately, it is not consistently complied with. Regarding the call to assess alternative ways to minimise unwanted catches, we would first need to know what the upcoming evaluation of the landing obligation bring and, as you know well, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund already provides effective support to more selective and less impacting fishing techniques. One point on which the Commission cannot agree is that to decarbonise our fishing fleet, to ensure generational renewal or to increase safety on board, we need to necessarily increase the fishing capacity limits. It is crucial that the size of the fleet remains in balance with the available fishing opportunities if we want to ensure sustainable fisheries management. Besides, several member states have a non-negligible margin between the active capacity of their fleets and their fishing capacity ceiling, and they can – and should – allocate this margin where needed to facilitate the modernisation of the fleet. I have called on those Member States on several occasions to look into this, and I reiterate this call today. Supporting the fishing fleet in its energy transition will remain one of our big joint responsibilities for the years to come. To facilitate this transition, the Commission has already proposed a number of concrete measures under its energy transition initiative, and we have also issued a guide on funding opportunities to support stakeholders in navigating the different types of funding that can be used. The ‘fishers of the future’ project, which we launched last February, will also look at the generational renewal and safety on board. I fully agree with you that the promotion of low-impact aquaculture practices, such as mussel or oyster farming, needs more support. In line with your report, the strategic guidelines on EU aquaculture recognise that future research and innovation is required, in particular on species-specific welfare parameters. The Commission is therefore committed to support such research in the current programming period of EU funds, and will certainly support effective implementation of these strategic guidelines. A number of funding opportunities are available to achieve the energy transition and other objectives under the European Green Deal, including under Horizon Europe and REPower EU, and for that purpose, we also revised the state aid guidelines and ensured the necessary synergies with the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund. Let me also be very clear that the Commission is fully committed to ensure equal treatment of women in the fisheries sector and their improved representation. We have launched a specific call for proposals under the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund to support projects promoting the role of women in the blue economy, the so-called WINBLUE and WIN-BIG. I am grateful to you, Mr Mato, that in your report, you also addressed climate change, and in that context, more specifically, the changes we see in the oceans’ chemistry and temperature. This is a key challenge, and we need to continue to carefully monitor any future developments and take them into account when taking policy decisions. The European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund already helps the fisheries and aquaculture sector to adapt to the consequences of climate change. However, the uptake of the available funds by Member States has, unfortunately, been relatively limited until now. So this needs to change and I count on your support in this regard.  Your report also sets out very concrete ideas regarding regional fisheries management organisations, and I can only reiterate the reassurance I have given to you on previous occasions: that the rights of the European Parliament regarding the negotiations within these organisations are – and will always be – fully respected in line with the framework agreement that governs the relations between our two institutions. So, the Commission supports the creation of new regional fisheries management organisations. However, this comes with its own set of political challenges. Of course, the Commission remains fully committed to involve the European Parliament in all future policy developments, in line with our treaty obligations and in line with our agreed better regulations principles, and it will continue to conduct evaluations or impact assessments when preparing new initiatives involving all stakeholders, including our fishers.