Last week the Fisheries Committee exchanged views with Athanasios Tsaftaris, Greek Minister for Fisheries, on the priorities during the Greek Presidency for the first half of 2014. Mr Tsaftaris is the President-in-office of the Council.
Minister Tsaftaris told the Fisheries Committee that his top priority is to secure an agreement between Parliament and Council on the final piece of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), where he hopes that an agreement can be reached during first reading, before the European elections. The multiannual plans (MAPs) for different fish stocks and the implementation of the discard ban will also be among the priorities of this semester.
It is an ambitious programme Greece has put forward with only three months left of the presidency. Where the PECH committee sees the EMFF as a top priority as the CFP cannot move forward without an agreement.