Fischler ‘willing to modify CFP shake-up plans’

Date: 06/06/02

By Martin Banks

FRANZ Fischler will tell EU ministers next week he is willing to alter his plans for a shake-up of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

The commissioner's proposals, which call for the size of the EU's fishing fleets to be slashed, are likely to be rejected when presented to fisheries ministers for the first time on Tuesday (11 June).

But Fischler will tell them in Luxembourg that the plans could still be changed if a compromise can be reached among member states.

'He will tell ministers this isn't a case of 'take it or leave it',' said his spokesman, Gregor Kreuzhuber. 'While insisting that the substance of the plan remains intact, he is quite open to suggestions on how the details might be amended.'

Struan Stevenson, chairman of the European Parliament's fisheries committee, says the meeting marks the opening round in a summer-long battle.

He predicts that ministers will be split into two distinct camps. On one side are six states calling themselves 'the friends of fishing', which are unhappy about the proposals: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, France and Ireland.

The remaining states, with the exception of Austria and Luxembourg, which do not have a fishing industry, generally favour Fischler's plan. A majority must ratify the European Commission's plan for change to be effected. The replacement plan for the CFP must be in place by 1 January 2003.

Stevenson, a UK Conservative, said: 'The Council is split down the middle. While I believe there will be a significant majority in favour of the plan, there will still be considerable debate about the detail.'

• The European Parliament's fisheries committee is expected to decide on Monday (10 June) whether to set up a temporary committee of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the sudden sacking last month of Steffen Smidt, the top official overseeing the reform.

Commissioner Franz Fischler's proposals for the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) are likely to be rejected when presented to fisheries ministers on 11 June 2002, but the plans could still be changed if a compromise can be reached among Member States.

European Commission: DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Fisheries http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/index_en.htm

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