Late on Thursday, on what was scheduled to be the last day of trilogue discussions on the new fisheries fund, negotiations broke down and European Parliament representatives walked away from the table.
After what has been reported as intense but fairly smooth negotiations, looking set to reach political agreement on the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund before the Christmas holidays, discussions were suspended on Thursday 19 December.
It appears that the European Parliament and the Council had brokered an agreement, which was rejected by the Commission at last minute due to the proposed budget split between measures under direct and shared management. The Commission hesitation is said to have led to the Council backtracking on a number of issues that had already been agreed, leading to the European Parliament walking out on the negotiations altogether.
The negotiations โ the so-called trilogue โ between Council, European Parliament and the European Commission on the final text in the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) started shortly after the European Parliament Plenary vote on 23 October, in early November. The Parliament importantly rejected the Council proposal to bring back funding for building new vessels and voted in favour of increased flexibility enabling the Member States to spend more money on data collection, control and enforcement.
The trilogue negotiations aim to find a compromise between the Parliamentโs position adopted on the 23 October and the previously agreed Council General Approach from 15 July 2013. The EMFF rapporteur French MEP Alain Cadec (EPP, FR) is the main negotiator for the European Parliament, while the Lithuanian Presidency has spoken on behalf of the Council, and the Commission is also present. In the new year, the Council will be led by the Greek Presidency (1 Januaryโ30 June).
The negotiations are likely to start again in January, but according to Alain Cadec the last proposal from the Commission and the Council is a humilation to the European Parliament, and he asks the Commission in particular to reconsider before coming back to the table.
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