During the meeting, the Commissioner reiterated his commitment to make fisheries sustainable in Europe, zero tolerance towards IUU fishing, tackle pollution, preserve the biodiversity and also the profitability of the fisheries sector. Social Partners welcomed Sinkevicius’ objective to decarbonize and modernize the sector without increasing capacity. He stressed that the intention of the Commission is not to revise the CFP but to implement policies better for the sake of stability and predictability for the sector.

“We sent a clear message to the Commissioner” said Juan Manuel Trujillo, ETF Fisheries Section President “we are 100% in favour of sustainable fisheries and we support the Commission in its zero tolerance against illegal fishing. However, the CFP must be based on three pillars – environmental, social and economic sustainability – that should be treated on an equal footing. That is why the Commission shall always do a thoughtful and proper socio-economic impact assessment before taking any preservation measure and, if necessary, shape the policies taking into account the outcome of such potential negative socio-economic consequences”.

“What we observe” he continued “is that the sector and the workers are dramatically impacted by the decisions taken by the Commission disproportionately closing areas to fishing, proposing to include perfectly regulated species in CITES and proposing fishing activity reductions in areas like the Mediterranean to the point that is sentencing the sector to disappear. The voice of fishermen is not sufficiently heard”, he concluded.

Ment van der Zwan, Europêche spokesperson for social affairs, declared: “The EU must clearly reduce its dependency on imported energy and food alike. For that reason, it should cherish its fishers and protect their lives and livelihood. There is a lot to gain in that respect. I hope the Commissioner listened and act upon, despite not recognising these issues afterwards on a message published on twitter”. He continued: “The Commission often talks about the protection of fish but little about the protection of fishers. In fact, the CFP is increasingly linked to environmental legislation[1] and poorly linked to social and safety objectives. To attract new generations to our sector we need the EU to adopt fisheries policies that provide legal security, stability and enhance the competitiveness of fisheries enterprises. Until we reach that point, we will be unable to make this job attractive”.

The Social Partners welcome the Commissioner’s open dialogue with the EU Social Dialogue Committee for Sea Fisheries and recognition of its unique role in addressing the social dimension of the CFP.

[1] E.g., Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Action plan to conserve fisheries resources and protect marine ecosystems, Biodiversity strategy and the Nature Restauration Law.

Press contacts:

Daniel Voces, Europêche Managing Director (+32.2.230.48.48 or daniel.voces@europeche.org)

 Andrea Albertazzi, ETF Fisheries Policy Officer (+32.470.93.05.89 or a.albertazzi@etf-europe.org)

SSDC Press Release – Commissioner Sinkevicius

The appalling absence of officials from the Directorate-General on Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) at the Social Dialogue meeting dedicated to discussing the status of the Mediterranean was harshly criticized by the Social Partners. ETF, Europêche and Copa-Cogeca stressed that their Committee is a key actor of the democratic legislative process, enshrined in the EU Treaty, that cannot be overlooked.

The Social Partners called for fisheries policies based on proper socio-economic impact assessments and for fisheries management measures that fishers can cope with. See their Resolution.

Juan Manuel Trujillo, ETF Fisheries Section Chair stated: “We want to have a thriving Mediterranean fishing sector that is sustainable from an environmental point of view. But at the same time, we want the industry also to be capable of offering quality jobs to  Europeans citizens and long-term economic perspective to companies”. He warns that under no circumstances the social partners “want to end up in a situation where the consumption of fishing products in the EU is delegated to imports of products of doubtful origin”.

During the meeting, the Social Partners also insisted on the need to wait for the results of scientific evaluations measuring the effects of the restrictions introduced in 2019-2021 to adjust fishing effort before proposing further reductions that would only make the sector to suffer even more.

Europêche’s spokesperson in the European social dialogue, Ment van der Zwan, added: ‘’Aware of the delicate situation in the Mediterranean Sea, the fishing sector is already taking its responsibility, reducing its activity at sea, which is benefiting the recovery of fish stocks as reported by scientific data. Yet, the obstinate application of the multiannual management plan on the Western Mediterranean, which has already reduced trawler fishing activity by 17.5% over the past two years (23.5% in 2022) accompanied by new measures restricting fishing operations, is driving most businesses below their breakeven point. The situation is untenable, we are destroying our own coastal communities, our culture, our heritage, to reach short-term unrealistic EU policy objectives”.

Social Partners Press Release – Viable and Sustainable Fishing Activity in the Mediterranean Sea