Case: Policy coherence in general

23-03-2011 CFFA request transparency on Fisheries agreements from the Commission

The Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements (CFFA), to which also the Evert Vermeer Foundation belongs, send a letter to the Commission requesting for access to all reports held by the European Commission on fisheries access partnerships and fisheries partnership agreements with third countries.

This information is requested as it is widely reported that numerous forms of fishing adversely affect marine ecosystems in countries where the EU has fisheries agreements. The environmental impact of fishing is threatening long-term biodiversity, as well as local food security and livelihoods in some countries. European fisheries agreements not only regulate the fishing of surplus stocks by European vessels, as well as providing financial assistance for sectoral development in these countries. There is a concern that EU fisheries agreements may have contributed to overfishing and that financial assistance has failed to be as effective as it could be.

Supported by the Aarhus Convention, the request is for ex-ante evaluations and ex-post evaluations and should contain information on stock assessments, data on catches made by the European fishing fleet and an assessment of how EU funds have been used in host countries, including their social and economic impact. Making this information public will raise awareness of environmental and social matters, allow citizens of countries where EU has fisheries agreements to better understand the contribution of these agreements on sustainable fishing, and it will enable citizens to participate more effectively in decision-making processes.

The Evert Vermeer Foundation together with the rest of the CFFA hopes for a positive and timely response of the Commission.