The Parliament’s fisheries committee yesterday (27 January) approved a report by Portuguese centre-right MEP Maria do Céu Patrão Neves, which calls for decision-making to be decentralised, and for fishermen and -women to be given more of a say over the management of stocks.

Although this is a non-legislative report, it is significant in that it reveals the Parliament’s thinking on reform of the common fisheries policy, which will be a priority for the next European Commission.

According to Ms Neves : “The problem is that the Council [of Ministers] does not follow scientists’ advice.” She has proposed a more important role for regional bodies, with the aim of “shortening the distance between those who work in the sea and those who take the decisions”.

The report proposes the single EU-wide management system should be scrapped but at the same time quotas and total allowable catches (TACs) could be kept for some waters and species.

Whilst Green MEPs were unhappy that her report did not make preserving fish stocks the top policy priority, ahead of economic and social concerns, Ms Neves argues that conservation, fishing livelihoods and profitability will all be equal priorities and rejected the charge that this would lead to economic interests trumping the environment again.

Perhaps a naive view given the history of politicians taking popular stances to support commercial activities – this approach will lead to conflict with the EC, which has warned that preserving stocks and preserving fishing jobs will be competing objectives in the short term.

However, Ms Neves tried to offer the reassurance that now the Parliament is preparing to use the fisheries policy co-decision powers, fishing interests will not be taken into account to the exclusion of other factors.

In conclusion she said : “Power is only real when it comes with responsibility. If the Parliament has more power, it also has more responsibility” and that co-decision meant that “we have a more democratic process, we have a more enriched debate and we should have a better result in the end”.

Fine rhetoric, but the word *should* indicates just how long a way there is to go.

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