The Xunta of Galicia has urged the European Commission to thoroughly review the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and to set a “realistic calendar” to carry out that reform. The president of the Galician executive, Alfonso Rueda, and the minister of the Sea, Marta Villaverde, have conveyed this request in letters sent to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; the Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis; the President of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, Carmen Crespo; and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas.
In these communications, the Galician officials express their concern about the “lack of concrete progress” and offer Brussels the Xunta’s cooperation so that the so-called Vision 2040 becomes the starting point for “effective” measures for the fishing and aquaculture sector.
The regional government considers that the European document recognizes “structural shortfalls” in fisheries, including “the low return on investment (at 4.6%), the aging of crews and vessels, and insufficient performance of the landing obligation”.
At the same time, the Xunta welcomes that the proposal includes simplifying the regulatory framework for aquaculture before 2027 ends and that it proposes measures to encourage generational renewal. However, it laments that the text “does not assume the commitment” to promote amendments to the base Regulation of the CFP approved in 2013.
The Galician executive emphasizes that it is not questioning the Union’s environmental framework, but it calls for “reviewing those rules that hinder activity and the modernization of the fleet,” with special attention to the provisions on capacity and the landing obligation.
“Renewing is not fishing more,” they recall in the letters addressed to the Community institutions, where it is insisted on the urgency of replacing engines, improving safety equipment and onboard living conditions without this resulting in an increase in fishing capacity.
On the internal level, the Xunta proposes that the central Government defend in the EU Council of Agriculture and Fisheries (Agrifish) a “clear” calendar for reviewing the CFP, a regulatory solution for the landing obligation and the renewal of vessels without an increase in capacity, as well as ensuring “effective participation” by the autonomous communities in defining the Spanish position.