Most fisheries ministers have welcomed plans by the EU Commission (EC) to cut back red tape for fishermen in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
Their recent Council meeting discussed the EC’s “Action Plan for simplifying and improving the CFP”, but with small vessel fleets under major pressure some fishermen will feel all this has come too late.
Some countries have been pushing hard saying quotas and total allowable catches (TACs) must be discussed much earlier on during the year. They feel they are often botched together in crisis meetings in the month of December, usually being finalised only days before they enter into force for the new year. They argue that ‘frontloading’ will help everyone plan better.
They also want a reduction in the amount and complexity of the paperwork which has to be filled in with regard to reporting on catch etc.
Improvements are supposed to be put in place over the next 18 months.
The concern amongst European fishermen is that this consultation has been going on since before April 2005, when the ministers told the Council to get on with reform, and little will really change fast enough.
