Considerations on COM(2023)437 - EU position in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2023)437 - EU position in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2023)437  |
| date | January 16, 2024 |
(2)The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (‘GFCM’) adopts measures to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources and the sustainable development of aquaculture in the GFCM Agreement area. Such measures may become binding upon the Union.
(3)Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council 18 provides that the Union is to ensure that fishing and aquaculture activities are environmentally sustainable in the long-term and are managed in a way that is consistent with the objectives of achieving economic, social and employment benefits, and of contributing to the availability of food supplies. It also provides that the Union is to apply the precautionary approach to fisheries management and is to aim to ensure that exploitation of living marine biological resources restores and maintains the population of harvested species above levels, which can produce the maximum sustainable yield. It further provides that the Union is to take management and conservation measures based on best available scientific advice, to support the development of scientific knowledge and advice, to gradually eliminate discards and to promote fishing methods that contribute to more selective fishing and the avoidance and reduction, as far as possible, of unwanted catches, to fishing with low impact on marine ecosystem and fishery resources. Besides, Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 specifically provides that those objectives and principles are to be applied by the Union in the conduct of its external fisheries relations.
(4)In line with the Biodiversity 19 , Climate Adaptation 20 and Farm to Fork Strategies 21 , it is essential to protect nature and reverse the degradation of ecosystems. The risks stemming from climate change and loss of biodiversity must not jeopardise the availability of the goods and services that healthy marine ecosystems provide to fishers, coastal communities and humanity at large.
(5)The Plastics Strategy 22 refers to specific measures to reduce plastics and marine pollution as well as the loss or abandonment at sea of fishing gear. Furthermore, the Zero pollution Action Plan 23 aims at reducing by 50% plastic litter at sea and by 30% micro-plastics released into the environment.
(6)Under the International Ocean Governance Joint Communication 24 , marine biodiversity protection and conservation are key priorities under the EU’s external action The EU is the most prominent actor in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and fisheries bodies worldwide. There, the EU promotes the sustainability of fish stocks, promotes transparent decision-making based on sound scientific advice, enhances scientific research, and strengthens compliance.
(7)As stated in the conclusions of the Ministerial Conference on the Sustainability of Mediterranean Fisheries, which adopted the Malta MedFish4Ever Ministerial Declaration on 30 March 2017 and of the High Level Conference on Black Sea Fisheries and Aquaculture, which adopted the Sofia Ministerial Declaration on 7 June 2018, the promotion of measures to support and enhance data collection and scientific evaluation, ecosystem based fisheries management, a culture of compliance to eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, sustainable small scale fisheries and aquaculture, greater solidarity and coordination, is central to the Union's action in the GFCM.
(8)The GFCM 2030 Strategy for the sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea 25 , adopted in 2021, integrates and further develops the commitments and priorities of previous Ministerial Declarations, while focusing also on actions to better address increased challenges, such as climate change, non-indigenous species, pollution in all its forms and the need to reduce and mitigate discards and incidental catches of vulnerable species.
(9)It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the meetings of the GFCM for the period 2024-2028, as the GFCM conservation and management measures may be binding on the Union and capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law, namely, Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council 26 , Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 27 and Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 28 .
(10)Currently, the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the meetings of the GFCM is established by Council Decision (EU) 2019/869 29 . It is appropriate to repeal that Decision and establish a new Decision for the period 2024-2028.
(11)In view of the evolving nature of fishery resources in the GFCM Agreement area and the consequent need for the Union’s position to take account of new developments, including new scientific and other relevant information presented before or during the meetings of the GFCM, procedures should be established for the year-to-year specification of the Union’s position for the period 2024-2028. Those positions should be in line with the principle of sincere cooperation among the Union institutions enshrined in Article 13(2) of the Treaty on the European Union.