EU Ministers play fishy games with the Common Fisheries Policy
The reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy is at crossroads: ministers from countries with industrial fishing fleets put pressure on MEPs in order to water down the Commission’s proposals for fast and full recovery targets for fishery stocks.
According to WWF, nearly two out of three assessed fisheries in the EU are nearing depletion. It is absolutely vital that the Common Fisheries Policy ensures no more fish stocks are overfished by 2020. In February, the European Parliament adopted with an overwhelming majority a legislative proposal that promises to put an end to overfishing in Europe. The current position of many Fisheries Ministers opens the future to overfishing for more than 100 years. Agreement on the new package may be reached by the end of June.
According to Andrea Kohl, Programme Director at WWF’s European Policy Office, “[w]e need a strong reform allowing fish stocks to recover. WWF is looking very carefully at the non-transparent negotiations which appear to contradict the principle of co-decision and permit blackmail threats to the MEPs by certain Member States.”
Sources: WWF’s European Policy Office.