EU fisheries Ministers debate about regionalisation and transferable fishing concessions in the Common Fisheries Policy Reform
The EU fisheries Council of Ministers debated today about regionalisation and transferable fishing concessions, two components of the proposal for the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, tabled by the Commission in July.
At the press conference at the end of the meeting, thanking the Danish Presidency for the very good cooperation and productive work, Commissioner Maria Damanaki made the following points: "We have made great progress on regionalisation: I'm very optimistic that we will achieve a workable system, not bureaucratic, that can strike the right balance between regionalisation, a new role for our industry and for our advisory bodies and ensuring a level playing field throughout Europe".
On transferable fishing concessions, Commissioner Damanaki reminded that "the main issue that we have to tackle is overfishing and we have to realise that we have tried in the past with some instruments, scrapping for example, and we failed." She continued: "Now we have a better view of the opinions of all member states and we heard some proposals about alternative instruments in order to tackle overcapacity. We have to reflect more on this: I have a mandate from the Commission, so our proposal is still on the table and we will discuss further."
Commissioner Damanaki concluded underlining that "it is absolutely crucial to have a clear picture of what is happening in our member states: I'm waiting for the reports about engine power that all member states must submit to the Commission by January 2013".
