Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-08-Speech-4-117"
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"en.20100708.5.4-117"2
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"−
Mr President, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, one of the strong ideas of this report is the need to establish a vital link between the common commercial policy and the common fisheries policy.
In my view the first demonstration of this should be the Commission and the Council genuinely taking into account the recommendations contained in this report. In any case, we will be extremely vigilant in the coming months, and I personally intend to keep working on these issues.
With this in mind, we can only welcome the fact that the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Mrs Damanaki, who is our regular contact, and the Commissioner for Trade, Mr De Gucht, are reunited on the Commission’s bench. Two Commissioners for one report, what an honour! I must say that this dual representation of the Commission is surprising and flattering, and moreover, rather unusual.
Let us return to the report itself. Imports of fishery and aquaculture products from third countries account for more than 60% of EU consumption. This worrying level of EU dependence on imports is the result of a double phenomenon: firstly, there has been a decline in EU production, and, secondly, the EU market has been increasingly opened up to imports, as a result of the trade policies conducted by the Commission in the course of the last decade.
These developments are making life difficult for EU fishermen who, paradoxically, are finding it hard to sell their catches at sufficiently lucrative prices, even though demand exceeds supply for most species. European fishermen accept having environmental, social and health restrictions imposed on them, but bitterly resent the fact that they are not applied in the same way to products imported in huge numbers from third countries.
What is at stake here is quite simply the survival of an economically viable European fisheries sector, a supplier of jobs right across the industry, a provider of safe and good quality food, contributing to the preservation of the cultural identity of our coastal regions.
Ladies and gentlemen, the survival of European fisheries is non-negotiable. In essence, we are demanding the following. Firstly, the preservation by the European Union of significant tariff protection for fishery and aquaculture products, so that the preferences granted to certain third countries, in particular developing countries, still mean something, and so that the WTO mechanisms are still effective in ensuring that our processing industry receives supplies. We must shield these products from the tariff minefield by using the Swiss formula and demanding that they be treated as sensitive products.
Secondly, the trade preferences granted to certain third countries must be dependent on their complying with strict environmental, social and health standards, at the very least.
Thirdly, we call for the responsibility for conducting trade talks on fishery and aquaculture products to be transferred from the Trade Commissioner to the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. This will mean that better account is taken of the specific characteristics of fishery and aquaculture products. I think this is the perfect time to review the terms of this fundamental debate. Indeed, we are on the eve of an important reform of the CFP.
Furthermore, we note that the Doha Round at the WTO has come to a standstill, giving us an opportunity to reconsider some ill-timed concessions that the Commission was preparing to make on behalf of the European Union. Furthermore, on the initiative of Commissioner De Gucht, who is here with us, the European Commission has just opened a public consultation period with a view to creating new guidelines for the common commercial policy, within the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy. The European Parliament henceforth has powers of codecision in relation to both trade policy and fisheries policy, and it fully intends to make its voice heard and to ensure that its point of view is respected in these matters."@en1
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