Reform of the common fisheries policy
The Council is expected to adopt a second general approach on the proposal for a regulation on the common fisheries policy (CFP) (12514/11) replacing the basic provisions of the CFP as part of the CFP reform "package":
A general approach constitutes a political agreement in the Council on a proposal for a regulation. The agreement sought on the CFP basic provisions will follow up on the first general approach agreed by the Council in June 2012 (11322/12), which was not fully conclusive with respect to the following parts of the proposal:
• implementation of the discards ban and the possibility of by-catch quotas;• responsibilities for implementing environmental obligations that impact on fishing activities; • definitions, delegated acts to be adopted by the Commission and recitals.
The European Parliament voted on its position at first reading on 6 February 2013.
The proposal's general objective is to ensure fisheries and aquaculture activities that provide longterm sustainable environmental, economic and social conditions, and contribute to the availability of food supplies.
New elements concern in particular:
• a landing obligation, • maximum sustainable yield (MSY) as a compulsory reference for fisheries management, • regionalised decision-making, • individually transferable fishing quotas, • EU measures accompanying member state obligations under environmental legislation.