Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-01-17-Speech-4-018"
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"en.20020117.2.4-018"2
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".
Mr President, I, too, wish Mr Fischler a speedy recovery and am also in favour of us not deferring this morning's debate. The subject is simply too important. Getting this report, with its 400 amendments, through the committee was a really tough business. The large number of amendments was certainly not attributable to the involvement of Mrs Miguélez Ramos, whom I respect as a colleague and who has done exemplary work in producing a balanced report, and I would like to thank her once again for this.
Some will mock and ask themselves what all this expense is for, but I cannot emphasise enough what significance this report has for the future of fisheries in Europe. A common fisheries policy has been in place for just about twenty years, with all their highs and lows. Fisheries swam through many a trough. Brussels cannot be made to bear all the responsibility for that, however. On the contrary, not every Member State and not everyone in the fishing industry is pulling their weight, and it is for that reason that the CFP has not fully met the high demands made of it. This year, we are at a crossroads in the truest sense of the word. In which direction do we want Europe's common fisheries policy to go in future? I can assure you that Parliament's recommendations will fall on good soil at the Commission, as this cooperation between the institutions in the interests of Europe's fisheries, and for their benefit, must be carried on, and it will be. Now that the Commission knows what this report recommends, it can submit its reform proposals, which we await with eager anticipation, and so I hope there will be a large majority.
One thing, though, must be clear. This will be a voyage over a rough sea for, as I have said, there are massive challenges ahead. Let me briefly highlight a few things that I see as vital to Europe's future fisheries policy. Firstly, without fish, there will be no more fishing industry. This equation may be simple, but it is true. We must give even more attention to the maintenance of healthy stocks than we did previously, because only healthy marine eco-systems guarantee sustainable management with a future ahead of it. After all, we all – here in Parliament and out there on the coastline – want a viable fisheries sector, and one that is viable not only for today and possibly tomorrow, but for the decades yet to come.
Secondly, we know too little about how the marine eco-system is interlinked, and so there must be more intensive research. Thirdly, it is a fact that there are insufficient fish in European waters, and so we must also fish outside them, and to this end we need agreements with third states. These are expensive and are costing more and more; they will probably be too expensive as soon as tomorrow. We have to strike out on new pathways here, even if this will require greater involvement of those who directly profit. We owe this to our taxpayers. Time is passing too fast, not only the time I have to speak, but the time left to reform the CFP. Let us, by the end of this year, find a common and sustainable solution in the interests of our European fisheries."@en1
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