CTA, http://agritrade.cta.int, June 2008
For about 30 years, the common fisheries policy (CFP) has dealt with the EU’s policies on fisheries, both within its own waters and externally (international and third-country waters), including ACP waters. The internal problems of EU fisheries and policies arising, such as over-exploitation of fish resources and the EU fish market’s increasing reliance on fish coming from outside, have important consequences for the development of ACP fisheries. This is particularly so in the areas of resource management, food security, and the development of value-added activities. In 2002, the EU completed a wide-ranging review of the CFP, and new sets of regulations and action plans were adopted to enable conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources. Some of these are of particular relevance to ACP countries, in particular the Council conclusions on an integrated framework for partnership agreements with third countries. The rising price of fuel - which represents the most important running cost for many EU fleets - has resulted in some parts of the EU industry ceasing to be profitable, and pressures from the industry to increase subsidies are growing+.
To address economic and environmental aspects in EU fisheries policies more consistently, the EU, supported by the European Fisheries Fund, has adopted communications and proposals on issues such as the collection, use and management of fisheries data; the measuring of fishing capacity and effort, the reduction of discards, the adoption of an eco-system approach etc. These various proposals will have impacts on EU fisheries activities conducted in ACP countries. Finally, stepping up the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated’ (IUU) fishing has also become a top priority, and a package of measures to address the issue has been adopted in June 2008, including measures on imports from third countries such as the ACP.
Author(s): Agritrade