The fisheries ministers of the European Union will try to reach a political agreement this Monday on the European Commission’s proposal regarding fishing opportunities in the Atlantic and the North Sea for 2024 and also for 2025 and 2026 in the case of some stocks, as well as on the proposal regarding fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for 2024.
The negotiations started yesterday afternoon and evening with the holding of informal bilateral and trilateral meetings, with the aim of reaching a political agreement today.
One of the novelties that the Brussels proposal has introduced this year is the adoption of Maximum Total Catches (TAC) and multi-annual quotas for some species starting in 2024, which was one of the main objectives of the Spanish presidency of the Council.
In this sense, community sources have specified that the fact that Spain has “strong interests” in the field of fishing does not mean that they are not going to pilot the negotiation in a “neutral” manner, but “on the contrary”, since who consider that there is a “clear synergy” between this interest in fishing and the “correct” exercise of the presidency, which has made an effort to try to accommodate the perspectives of all the delegations.
On this occasion, the ministers have already anticipated much of the preparatory work for the meeting in which each December they establish the catches allowed for the next year.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has already assured that he considers that the proposal of the Spanish presidency of the Council defends domestic interests in the negotiations on Total Allowable Catches (TAC) and quotas for 2024.
In the case of the Atlantic, he expects “significant improvements” to occur for some of the stocks of most interest to the Spanish fleet, such as hake and southern horse mackerel and monkfish and roosterfish in Iberian waters, while, with regard to the Mediterranean, will try to avoid or limit as much as possible the new reduction in fishing days proposed by the Commission.
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