News
June 7, 2006
European Fisheries Fund – EU Council meeting 22 May
The highly debated European Fisheries Fund (EFF) was on the agenda again at the 22 May European Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting. However, the 25 Member States were unable to agree on how to spend the €3.8 Billion. The major sticking point was whether or not to make EFF eligible for vessel modernisation. The issue … Continued
May 29, 2006
New EU – Morocco fisheries agreement in breach of international law
The European fisheries ministers concluded a fisheries partnership agreement at the Council meeting May 22nd. The agreement provides for the EU to pay Morocco €144.4 million under four years in return for giving 119 European vessels (100 Spanish, 14 Portuguese, 4 French and 1 Italian) opportunities to fish in Morocco’s Atlantic coastal waters, including the … Continued
January 11, 2006
European Parliament votes in favour of greater protection for Europe’s seas
Joint comment by Greenpeace , BirdLife International, the European Environment Bureau, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Fisheries Secretariat, Seas At Risk and WWF on the European Parliament Plenary Vote on the Marine Strategy Directive: The European Parliament today called for a determined Europe-wide effort to combat the impacts of destructive and unsustainable fishing, … Continued
November 25, 2005
Baltic Sea to become pilot area for EU marine efforts
Environmental Ministers take first steps to make the Baltic Sea a pilot area for implementation of the EU Marine strategy. On 23 November, Environmental Ministers from all affected states met to discuss ways to deal with the environmental crisis in the Baltic Sea. “We have had a successful meeting where the Ministers around the Baltic … Continued
November 24, 2005
Forum on the New European Maritime Policy: a wake-up call to stakeholders?
Conference in Brussels to discuss the developing European Maritime Policy leaves little doubt that maritime stakeholders are not always treated equally. The Mare Forum, the Dutch Maritime Network, and the European Network of Maritime Clusters, with support from the European Commission held a conference in Brussels on 17 November entitled ‘The New European Maritime Policy … Continued
November 21, 2005
Baltic Environment Ministers meet to discuss future actions
Later this week Baltic Environmental Ministers will meet to discuss the future of our shared sea. Lena Sommestad has consulted Swedish NGOs on priority areas for action. The Swedish Minister for the Environment, Lena Sommestad, has taken the initiative to gather her fellow Environmental Ministers from around the Baltic Sea for an informal meeting. The … Continued
November 21, 2005
Baltic Sea RAC prepares its formal establishment
In late October, the interim Executive Committee of the Baltic Sea RAC met to discuss issues related to its formal establishment. On 26 October, organisations that had flagged an interest for participating in the work of the interim Executive Committee of the Baltic Sea RAC met in Copenhagen to discuss a number of issues that … Continued
November 17, 2005
Swedish seminar on Individual Fishing Rights
On 9 November, the Swedish Institute for Food and Agricultural Economics (SLI) in Lund hosted a seminar to discuss different management options for Swedish fisheries, with a focus on individual fishing rights and quotas. It was aimed at an audience concerned with fisheries management in Sweden, but presentations were given by Swedish as well as … Continued
November 8, 2005
North Sea Regional Advisory Council: a model 1st year?
The North Sea Regional Advisory Council (NS RAC) held its second General Assembly in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 20, marking a busy and successful year. Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) were provided for under the 2002 reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and specifically in Council Regulation 2731/2002, to provide enhanced stakeholder involvement in … Continued
November 5, 2005
Nordic & Baltic Perspectives on the European Marine Strategy
Frustration expressed at failure to build new EU Marine Strategy and Framework Directive on past and ongoing efforts and concepts at recent Copenhagen workshop. A workshop was held in Copenhagen on 3-4 November, 2005, to consider the European Marine Strategy (EMS; COM(2005)504), and the recent European Commission proposal for a supporting Marine Framework Directive (MFD; … Continued