P. J. Sheehan
Ceist:119 Mr. Sheehan asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the progress achieved towards renegotiating a new deal for the fishing industry within the European Commission's Common Fisheries Policy. [28952/01]
Written Answers. - Common Fisheries Policy.
As I indicated to the House on 11 October 2001, the centrepiece of the Fisheries Council in Luxembourg last June was a substantive debate on the Commission's Green Paper on future directions for the Common Fisheries Policy. The Green Paper was published in March 2001 and has been the subject of widespread consultation with stakeholders. Ireland's national strategy review group on the CFP has commented in detail on the Commission's Green Paper and I endorsed the published views of the strategy group in that regard.
At the June Council I welcomed the fact that the Commission's thinking reflected a number of Ireland's priorities, including sustainable development, the need to strengthen conservation policy, to secure a level playing field in enforcement and also to improve governance within the CFP.
In line with the position of the strategy group, I believe that the CFP must be better aligned with social, regional and cohesion policies in the interests of coastal communities. The Green Paper focuses on the sustainability of resources, but I and several other EU colleagues insist that the social and economic aspects of sustainable development must also be acknowledged to ensure the viability of the fishing industry. The governance dimension of the CFP must take greater account of the wider objectives of accountability and transparency.
The issue of access to fishery resources is of course of great importance and in line with the stated position of successive Governments, I have reiterated Ireland's case for a more equitable share of resources. Fleet policy is also of critical importance and I, together with several other ministerial colleagues, am opposed to the Commission's one dimensional approach to fleet over-capacity which looks for across the board cuts. Fleet policy, in addition to ensuring a balance between fishing effort and available resources, must also ensure the operational safety of fishermen and a competitive, economically sustainable fleet.
With the benefit of the considerable input being made by the strategy review group, I have articulated Ireland's position on these key issues to Commissioner Fischler and Council colleagues. These views, and the views of other member states and the EU fishing sectors are being assessed within the Commission. I expect the Commission to present its formal proposals on CFP reform within the next few months. As I have previously advised the House, substantive negotiations will begin under the Spanish Presidency next year culminating under the Danish Presidency towards the end of 2002. The key challenge for Ireland in the negotiating process is to influence the overall direction of much needed fundamental reform while maximising the national position in terms of our key priorities.