Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-06-17-Speech-4-043"
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"en.20100617.4.4-043"2
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"Madam President, this is becoming a bit of a Scottish debate, I think! First of all, let me too congratulate Mr Milana for his great cooperation and consultation during the progress of his work. I think it is an excellent report and I really feel that this report heralds a new dawn for European aquaculture. That is also mirrored by the support and enthusiasm for fish farming which we have heard in repeated comments from Commissioner Damanaki herself. So this is good news: it is what we have been demanding for years.
Europe used to lead the world in the production of farmed fish but in recent years we have allowed our eye to go off the ball. We have allowed our non-EU competitors to assume dominance in this sector and we have seen our indigenous industry haemorrhage jobs to countries outside the EU.
We import over 60% of our seafood needs when we are perfectly capable of producing this food ourselves. Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food sector in the world, and in Europe we have the perfect environment for fish farming: we have an almost limitless coastline with ideal bays, fjords and sea conditions; we lead the world in the science and technology necessary for a thriving aquaculture sector. And yet we are in danger of starving in a land of plenty.
Why is this? Well, as we have heard from other speakers, it is because aquaculture has become one of the most heavily regulated sectors in the entire food production industry in Europe, and I am appalled that I have heard speakers this morning calling for even more regulation.
EU fish farmers have to deal with over 400 different pieces of regulation, not to mention additional planning and environmental constraints in their own Member States, before they can reel in a single fish, and this is not simply from DG MARE, it is also DG ENVI, DG TRADE, DG CINCO and a host of other agencies. By tying the hands of our fish farmers with red tape we have simply handed a competitive advantage to countries like China, Japan and Vietnam – just look at the vast quantities of low-quality pangasius we import from the Mekong delta, as Mr Cadec said. So I regard Mr Milana’s report as a breakthrough; let us cut the red tape and allow Europe’s fish farmers once again to lead the world in aquaculture."@en1
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