The Agriculture & Fisheries Council meeting will be held in Brussels on Monday 25 May under the Presidency of Mr Jakub Šebesta, Czech minister for Agriculture. It is told that Commissioners Mariann Fischer Boel and Joe Borg will represent the Commission at the meeting. The main points on the agenda are fisheries and its reform policy.
It is mentioned that the main fisheries-related items on the Council agenda are an exchange of views on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and the statement on the way forward in eliminating the practice of discarding of fish to the sea. The other main purpose of the meeting is reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.
It was in April the Commission adopted a Green Paper launching the review of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The Council has invited all the interested parties from the sector and from civil society are invited to have their say on the future of European fisheries in a public internet-based consultation, which is open until 31 December 2009 and will cover every aspect of the current policy.
The main purpose of this review is to establish a system for managing fisheries in the EU which is better able to deliver on its aims and, in the long run, benefit the marine environment, fishermen and citizens. Commissioner Joe Borg presented the Green Paper to the Council on 25 April. Ministers are now expected to have a first thorough exchange of views, possibly showing the way forward.
It is mentioned that Commissioner Borg will make a statement to the Council on the way forward for eliminating the practice of discarding in EU fisheries. The Commission now proposes to address discards energetically and will suggest a series of specific measures that should be implemented over the coming years to bring down discards as soon as possible.
