Appearance of minister Petr Gandalovič, president of the council, before the European Parliament committee on fisheries on wednesday 21 january 2009
A. Introduction
Mr Chairman, Honourable Members, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour for me to be here today to present our work programme. Even though we are a landlocked country, I can assure you that we will be dealing with fisheries issues with full responsibility. You may consider our impartiality to be our advantage.
In doing so, I wish to underline the importance that the Czech Presidency attaches to the constructive role which the European Parliament, and your Committee, in particular, plays in the legislative process for the fisheries sector. I look forward to working closely with you to ensure smooth progress on the proposals currently before us.
We will have to see how the Reform Treaty progresses given that it foresees a move to codecision for most fisheries matters. The Treaty is a delicate matter in my country as you are no doubt aware.
Before going into the details of the Presidency programme, I would like to thank my predecessor, Michel Barnier, for his excellent work. He managed not only to agree the total allowable catches (TAC) and Quota Regulation without a night session for the first time but also reached agreement on the long-term plan for cod and economic measures for fishermen.
My thanks to him for this!
I would like also to highlight our good cooperation within the Troïka and I believe that Sweden will be able to finalise the proposals which will be inherited from us.
Now, I’ll turn to our work programme.
B. Work programme
We plan to have fisheries items on the Council agenda in April and June.
C. Priorities
My main priorities will be aquaculture, CFP reform, sustainability and simplification.
Aquaculture
To the first priority: aquaculture.
As a landlocked country, freshwater aquaculture is the main fisheries interest for the Czech Republic. However, it is not just a priority for us; it is an issue that affects nearly every EU Member State, whether they are involved in freshwater or marine aquaculture.
Aquaculture is the fisheries of the future. If we are to feed and find protein for a world of 9-10 billion in 2050, aquaculture has to be part of a ‘blue revolution’. However, we have a few issues to address before we can get there.
First, our production has to be sustainable. We need to innovate and develop technology. We need to resolve the conflicting demands for the use of space and land. Our production has to be environmentally-friendly and be seen by the consumer to be so.
Secondly, aquaculture has to be competitive. The ‘credit crunch’ and the economic crisis have shown up the need for business models to be sound and robust, especially for marine aquaculture. We face issues of overcapacity, thin profit margins and the weak market power of retailers and distribution. We need to provide healthy products and invest in R&D while at the same time increasing consumer awareness and ensuring consumer protection.
Thirdly, we need to fight ‘red tape’ in a way that is effective and reduces the burden on our aquaculture businesses. Stakeholder participation could also be better and attention should be paid to adequate monitoring so we can see that we are being efficient and cost effective.
We will have an exchange of views on aquaculture at the April Council on the basis of a Commission Communication. We plan to follow this up with Council Conclusions to be adopted in June setting out the Council's policy and political view. I know that aquaculture is at the core of the Parliament's thinking too, so we look forward to your thoughts as well.
Reform of the CFP
This brings me to my second priority: a reform of the CFP.
Part of the Council's view will undoubtedly be that aquaculture must be fully integrated into the reform of the CFP. Aquaculture and the catch sector are inextricably linked already and will be even more so in the future.
Besides aquaculture, if I put it in simple words, the future CFP should give customers healthy and responsibly caught fish at a fair price and, on the other hand, provide fishermen with a reasonable business environment to make their living. And, as fish stocks are a fragile commodity living in a fragile environment, it should ensure their sustainable exploitation and protect marine environment and ecosystems for the future.
In order to adequately respond to challenges in the coming years, the Czech Presidency has the following guiding principles in its view of the CFP reform:
- better coordination with other EU policies and sectors;
- cost effectiveness and value for money;
- increased use of market mechanisms;
- simplification and reduction of red tape;
- the need for long-term planning;
- subsidiarity, more regional approaches and making Member States and fishermen more responsible;
- protection of marine environment and ecosystems.
I am well aware that the path to a reform of the CFP will be long and strenuous, let's see if it will also be narrow and thorny. However, we have to make every effort to make sure that the CFP reform is a success if we want to maintain or even strengthen our position in this global village, which is getting more demanding every day. In fact, this applies generally to the EU as a whole.
At this initial phase we will make our contribution by having an exchange of views on the Commission's Green Paper as soon as we receive it from the Commission. We look forward too to your views. In the informal contacts I have had with you so far, I know that aquaculture and CFP reform are among your top priorities.
Sustainability
Now I would turn to my third priority: sustainability.
The reform of the CFP is for the long-term. There remain, however, many challenges in the medium-term to ensure sustainability.
A first priority in the medium-term is the control Regulation. This is a sizeable 'hors d'oeuvre' for the reform of the CFP which I have already touched upon.
For the consumer, the key idea in the proposal is that of ‘traceability’. With the control Regulation in place, the consumer will know that the product he or she is buying can be traced from the net to the table and it will taste all the better for it, especially if washed down with a glass of Czech or Moravian wine.
I know that you will have a first exchange of views in your Committee on this proposal today. I plan to have a policy debate about it at the Council in June. My staff will do the detailed assessment before then, going through the hundred or so articles to identify the key issues for Ministers to discuss. I understand you will do the same before you end your term of office in May, so your opinion will provide us with valuable input on this important piece of legislation.
The second task is to continue our work on long-term plans. I have already said that long-term planning is one of the key principles for us in the reform of the CFP. I am pleased, therefore, that there are likely to be four long-term plans on the Council's table during the Czech Presidency:
- Northern hake;
- horse mackerel;
- anchovy,
- Celtic Sea cod.
These are all major stocks so I plan to take the work in the Council as far as I can on these, bearing in mind, of course, your prerogative in giving your views on these plans.
The final task is discards. The public simply cannot fathom why fish is thrown back into the sea. EC legislation seems to lie in wait, living on the statute book, luring fishermen to catch fish, only to emerge to force them to throw the fish back into the sea.
Discards is not that simple of course. However, so long as discards continue it will be hard to persuade the public that our fishing policy is sustainable. That is why I want to devote some time to the technical measures Regulation, which is important for reducing discards. I am glad that your Committee has drafted a report on this proposal, which is scheduled to be adopted before you end your term of office in May. So, I am looking forward to getting your opinion.
Simplification
This leads me on to my last priority: simplification. Technical measures are, for the Commission, a classic case of where the Council should move away from micro-management. That is why it has proposed the new division of powers between the Council, Parliament and the Commission. This is controversial and seems to anticipate the forthcoming reform of the CFP.
As President I may, on this file, be able to lead the Member States to water, but it is not at all clear that I will be able to make them drink. That is why I am particularly interested to hear your views on this matter. It is also why I have it down as a possible item for political agreement at the June Council.
As a fan of simplification, I am particularly pleased that the Commission will propose to repeal obsolete Community legislation that is no longer in force.
It is part of my country's view that if we are to bring the EU closer to the citizens, then we need to make it clear and intelligible to them. Otherwise, those navigating the by-waters of EC fisheries legislation must sometimes feel like ‘K’ in Kafka's ‘The Castle’, caught up in a world of incomprehensible bureaucracy.
D. Conclusion
In conclusion, Mr Chairman, I look forward to working with you over the next six months to take forward the considerable legislative agenda before us.
Thank you for your attention.
Mr Chairman, Honourable Members, I am happy to answer any questions you might have.
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:51
