According to Dr Borg Germany and the European Union are again being called upon to take up yet another challenge, albeit in a different context: a challenge that seeks to engineer change in order to deliver a sustainable future for seas, coasts and fisheries. He told that the reform is important for Germany due to its lengthy coastline and fisheries interests not only in the North and Baltic Seas but also in international waters, particularly near Greenland and Iceland.
Dr Borg said that Germany played vital role in building the EU Integrated Maritime Policy over the past few years. He added that an EU Integrated Maritime Policy that is up and running successfully whose key objective is to unlock the full potential of maritime activities for the benefit of jobs and the economy. The policy at the same time safeguards the marine environment which provides the resource base for all such activities.
He said that it is good to know that in Germany policy instruments reflecting the integrated maritime policy have been adopted, signalling a clear recognition of the need to make use of marine resources in a sustainable and responsible manner.
Dr Borg told that in future they will continue to identify the steps to be taken in the coming year with regard to the integrated maritime policy and we will make further proposals on better EU coordination in maritime surveillance, increased international cooperation to improve the governance of the seas, and the improvement of data collection and scientific cooperation.
It is said that Germany played a leading role during the last reform of the CFP – promoting and staunchly advocating sustainable fisheries. Dr Borg admits that this reform needs to provide the means to help fishermen regain trust in the market. It must help them to become profitable and thereby shape their own future. For sustainability to truly make headway, we need to analyse what the situation is and what exactly we must do to remedy it, says Dr Borg.
