Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-16-Speech-4-090"
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"en.20030116.4.4-090"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, the great interest which you have witnessed in this House today – even though you yourself are not responsible for fisheries – has, I hope, made it clear how much our ideas deserve support, both in the Committee on Fisheries and in the Commission.
We have made one thing clear today: we do not want fish out of a test–tube. We do not want fish only from aquaculture or a standardised packet off a supermarket shelf. We want more, even though the facts about our seas are bleak.
The fish on our plates comes more and more rarely from European Union waters. The indigenous supply cannot meet European demand. This indigenous supply does not offer an adequate prospect for the future. We are therefore reliant on fishing in foreign waters, both in international waters and in the coastal zones of other states. I would like to thank you, Mrs Miguélez Ramos, as rapporteur, for taking up this issue in a detailed own–initiative report and clearly identifying the key problems.
The European Union's fisheries agreements are an important factor both for supply and employment, especially in the regions which depend on fishing. Simply rejecting a report, as has just been demanded, cannot be our objective, for we must examine these issues seriously despite all the potential contradictions.
Nor must we lose sight of the fact that we have exploited our own waters to the point where the stocks are exhausted. We need only think of the reform of the common fisheries policy. It would be fatal – as one of the previous speakers has said – simply to export these problems elsewhere.
I call for a sustainable approach to the fisheries agreements and a balanced distribution of use, but naturally also for an economically profitable approach, for I do not want to lose sight of reality. However, long–term public subsidies conflict with this goal. It is absurd to justify the irresponsible exploitation of stocks in other waters with arguments based on fleet reductions and market supply in the European Union.
Ultimately, our key goal must be to safeguard the sustainability of resources, both in European and foreign waters. However, in this context, we must genuinely accept responsibility, rather than simply seeking plaudits in the short term. This applies especially to international waters. Here, prompt action is needed to combat illegal fishing effectively. Controls alone are not sufficient. What we need is harmonisation of sanctions at international level. This can only take place jointly and in a global framework. The sanctions must not simply be tokenist. I know that the international community's mills – and our mills too – grind slowly, but we will continue to give them grist, and we will keep the wheels turning."@en1
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