Reform of the CFP – Council reaches agreement, but is it green enough?

12 Jul 2012

Gina Hanrahan

EU Fisheries Ministers reached agreement on a common approach to the Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in the early hours of 13 June 2012, following a marathon twenty hour negotiating session in Luxembourg. [1] This marks a major milestone in the reform process, which began with the launch of the European Commission’s proposals for reform in July 2011.[2]

The headline elements of the Council agreement include a commitment to end the wasteful practice of discards, whereby unwanted catches are thrown back to sea, and a goal of sustainably managing fish stocks by 2015 or by 2020 at the latest.

While the aim has been to ‘green’ the Common Fisheries Policy, many fear that the deal has watered down the Commission proposals and has not gone far enough to make Europe’s fisheries truly sustainable.

The Commission Proposals

The Commission’s ambitious proposals of July 2011 respond to the “inconvenient truth” of stock decline and overfishing, according to Maritime Affairs Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, speaking at the IIEA on 22 September 2011.[3]  Unless agreement is reached to break the “vicious circle” of overfishing, by 2022 it is estimated that only 8 of 136 fish stocks will be at sustainable levels, she cautioned.

The proposals for the reform of the CFP focus on three pillars - sustainability, efficiency and coherence. 

On sustainability, the Commission’s goal is to have all stocks at sustainable levels by 2015, which would require the management of fish stocks according to the principle of Maximum Sustainable Yield. This means that the annual political negotiations about fishing quotas, often criticised for their lack of transparency and the short-termist focus on national interest, would be replaced with a scientifically-grounded multi-annual “ecosystems approach” to managing fish stocks. The Commission’s proposals would also see an end to discards on a phased basis. The Commission proposal responds at least in part to the high profile public “Fish Fight” campaign against discards run by celebrity chef, Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall, which has attracted over 800,000 supporters.

In terms of efficiency, the Commission proposed a shift from a highly centralised decision making process on even the most technical of issues to a decentralised approach based on regional and industry cooperation. While high-level targets would continue to be set at EU level, the choice of instrument to achieve those targets would be left to Member States cooperating at a regional level.  

The Commission also proposed a market-based system of transferable fishing concessions at national level, citing the effectiveness of the Danish experience of tradable catch shares, which saw increased yields from a smaller fleet. Transferable Fishing Concessions would allow quotas to be bought and sold by fishermen according to their actual fishing pattern, which could help to minimise discards. The Commission proposal included potential safeguards for Transferable Fishing Concessions, including transfers being limited to the national level, limiting Transferable Fishing Concessions to fishermen only, and exemptions for small-scale fleets.

The final element of the Commission proposal is to bring all facets of the CFP, from market organisation to subsidies, in line with the first two principles of sustainability and efficiency.

The Council Agreement

The compromise position reached by the Council[4] encompasses a wide range of issues, but the most controversial element of the agreement relates to the sustainability pillar.

On Maximum Sustainable Yield, the Council adopted a compromise position, which aims to achieve Maximum Sustainable Yield by 2015 “where possible” (e.g. where scientific advice on the stocks are available at the necessary detail) and by 2020 “at the latest.” This is weaker than the Commission proposal for sustainability across all stocks by 2015. The compromise is understood to respond to French and Spanish concerns that an earlier date would harm their fishing industries. While Spain came on board with this approach, France remained opposed, according to European Voice.[5]

An ultimate ban on discards was also agreed by Ministers at their June meeting, despite an apparently intensive campaign against this approach by France.[6] The conclusions state that fishermen will be obliged to land all of their catch on a “gradual” basis, with the overall aim of eliminating discards entirely. The timetable phases out discards from 2014 through to 2018, starting with pelagic fisheries (e.g. mackerel and herring), followed by white fish (between 2015 and 2018 at the latest).

In terms of efficiency, the Council supported the concept of regionalisation as it accepts that “one size does not fit all.” The compromise text also introduces an “alternative model for regionalization, where Member States adopt national measures through regional cooperation.”

With respect to Tradable Fishing Concessions, the compromise agreement stipulates that the system must remain voluntary. Member States can choose whether to establish a system of Tradable Fishing Concessions in order to align fishing opportunities with capacity. The fact that this remains voluntary is significant, and responds to concerns from a number of Member States, including Ireland, about the impact of this market-based approach.

Reaction to the Agreement 

Agreement at the Council was welcomed by many Member States, including Spain, the UK, Ireland and France. The compromise received support from the majority of Member States, though it is understood that Sweden, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Greece, Malta and Portugal remained opposed, but it was not put to a vote.[7] Danish Fisheries Minister, Mette Gjerskov, who chaired the negotiations, welcomed the compromise, saying “the Council for the first time stated that a discard ban will be a reality.”  

Commissioner Damanaki, while welcoming the “step forward” and the “workable” compromise, expressed concern on Twitter that the Commission proposal “is more ambitious” than the Council text.[8] 

Indeed, concerns have been raised by green groups and MEPs that the sustainability agreement does not go far enough. As Chris Davies, a liberal UK MEP and secretary of the cross-party ‘Fish for the Future’ group in the European Parliament, stated: “For governments to say that we should stop overfishing but perhaps not for another eight years is little short of madness.”[9] Greenpeace also criticised the Council for its “vague” timelines and “weak” text on Maximum Sustainable Yield, while Isabella Lövin, Swedish Green MEP, said that the compromise prescribes “the continuation of a fisheries industry based on overfishing and resulting unprofitability.” [10] The blog cfp-reformwatch also pointed to potential loopholes and the provisional nature of the text on discards.[11] 

Implications for Ireland

The outcome can be broadly seen as a success for Ireland, which played a key role in the negotiations on discards. Indeed, Minister for the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, was responsible for putting forward the proposal for the definitive timetable for phase out of discards, which formed the basis for agreement.[12]

The outcome on Transferable Fishing Concessions can also be seen as a win from an Irish point of view, as the Government had been pushing for a more flexible approach, which was achieved with a commitment that the market-based approach would remain voluntary. The original Commission proposal had proved particularly controversial in the Irish industry, which consistently highlighted the risk of consolidation of the fishing fleet, is major players were to buy up the quotas of smaller operators.[13]

Reaction to the agreement from the Irish fishing industry was somewhat critical, however. Industry representatives emphasised the “flawed approach” to discards taken by Member States. The Federation of Irish Fishermen stated their opposition to the obligation to land all fish, as it prefers an approach that avoids discards earlier in the process, by, for instance implementing temporary closures where there are large amounts of juveniles, using technical measures and offering incentives to fishermen to adopt them.”[14]

Timeline for Agreement 

Following the crucial Council agreement on 12 June 2012, the CFP reform now enters a new phase under the Cypriot Presidency, which will work towards achieving a compromise in negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council.

Given the fact that the legislation will be agreed in co-decision between the Parliament and the Council, environmental groups and other advocates of radical reform see the Parliament as a key player in the process and are focusing their lobbying efforts on the Parliament in order to raise the level of ambition substantially from the Council position.

CFP Reform Timetable in the European Parliament

The Parliament’s PECH Committee voted on one element of the package (Common Market Organisation in fishery and aquaculture products) on 20 June 2012, and on a resolution on the overall thrust of the reform on 11 July 2012, but the Basic Regulation will not be the subject of a Committee vote until the 8/9 October 2012. This will be followed by a plenary vote of the Parliament in November. The intention is for the new CFP to enter into force on 1 January 2013.

Conclusion

While many issues remain to be determined in the negotiations, including the final timetables for discards and reaching Maximum Sustainable Yield, it is not yet clear how high the bar will be set for the sustainability of European fisheries to 2020 and beyond. In the zero-sum game of EU negotiations, the challenge for Member States will be to move beyond short-term national interest in pursuit of ‘greened’ common policies. Whether Member States will rise to this challenge remains to be seen.

As an independent forum, the Institute does not express any opinions of its own. The views expressed in the article are the sole responsibility of the author.