The General Approach, which provides the Council with an orientation position on key issues in the CFP reform but has no legal standing, has been published.
Despite six Member States voting against the policy position, which represents a compromise on key issues such as regionalisation, the discard ban and setting quotas that will rebuild fish stocks, a majority of Member States support the position. They believe this will strengthen their hand against the European Parliament who will complete their first reading in November.
MEPs, NGOs, and some Member States have been outspoken in their criticism of the General Approach, with the Swedish Ministry stating that “it is of great importance that living biological resources are being rebuilt to levels that guarantee maximum sustainable yield in fisheries by 2015.”