EU’s fisheries ministers turned down Italy’s request to their March Council meeting for more time to implement technical measures prescribed by a regulation from 2006.
The Italian move had been supported by Cyprus and Spain, but Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki reminded the ministers that the member states have had three years to implement the rules and made it clear that there would be no postponement of the implementation. More than three years after its entry into force, “the level of compliance remains totally insufficient’, she said.
The ministers went along her recommendations, but according to a Council press release summarising the meeting, the Commission “undertook to facilitate the technical application of the regulation”.
Ms. Damanaki underlined that in her January hearing at the European Parliament she “pointed out that I am fully committed to improve fisheries management in the Mediterranean in order to achieve sustainable fisheries and a level playing field”.
“As Guardian of the Treaties, the Commission will have no choice but to take the necessary steps to ensure that EU legislation is complied with. I will therefore not hesitate to make full use of the instruments provided for by the Treaties.”
She recounted how scientists have recommended drastic measures to reduce mortality for a long list of stocks, while there is insufficient data for several others.
“This is like playing Russian roulette, they may be OK or they may on the brink of collapse, we simply don’t know”, she added.