Joe Borg, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, in his speech at an informal Council on Control of fisheries activities, said that developing a culture of compliance throughout the chain of activities related to fisheries from the fisherman to the consumer is the surest way of delivering sustainable and equitable fisheries in Europe. Slovenian Presidency of the European Union has organized the meeting where Borg has presented his analysis of the serious shortcomings of the current system which has been mention in the report by the European Court of Auditors.
Borg outlined an in-depth reform that would encourage honest operators to abide by the agreed measures and effectively check the law breakers through strict penalties. The control and enforcement of agreed rules are fall under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and are the responsibility of Member States.
According to Borg the weaknesses in the EU fisheries controls are putting the entire Common Fisheries Policy into question. He states that the current control system is so inefficient that it jeopardises commissions’ efforts to achieve sustainable exploitation and long term management of stocks.
Therefore the Commission intends to propose a new policy framework later this year, which will take a global and integrated approach to control the fisheries. Borg informed that the new proposal will focus not only on the catches and the landings, but also look at auctions, markets and imports.
Borg opined that it is high time EU nations should seize this opportunity and develop a culture of compliance that ensures controllability and traceability.
