The meeting is said to held on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 November in Brussels under the Presidency of Michel Barnier, French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. It is told that the meeting will deal fisheries points followed by press conferences. After the Council meeting there will be press briefing to discuss fisheries points with the public.
The Council has several agenda to be discussed in the meeting. The main point is the “Review of the cod recovery plan – political agreement” in which the Council will discuss the Commission’s proposal for an amendment of the cod recovery plan which has been in place since 2005, with a view to reaching political agreement (IP/08/493). Recent scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) concludes that the current measures have been inadequate to reduce fishing pressure on cod to the point where the stock can recover.
The Commission is also discussing the proposed amendments with Norway, with whom this stock is jointly managed. The debate in Council is expected to focus on regional aspects of the approach, the proposed fishing mortality targets, and effort management for fleets which do not target cod.
Issue like adaptation of cod quotas allocated to Poland in the Baltic Sea is also said to be discussed in the Council meeting. There will be “Reform of the CFP control system – exchange of views” to create a completely modernized system for inspection, monitoring, control, surveillance and enforcement of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy throughout the market chain, from net to plate (IP/08/1710).
The Commission is said to present the proposal to Council and an initial exchange of views on the Commission’s proposal will be held.
