MADRID, 10 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has been “moderately positive” regarding the start of informal bilateral and trilateral meetings for the distribution of fishing in the Atlantic and the North Sea for 2024 and also for 2025 and 2026, in the case of some populations.
This was stated by Planas this Sunday, in statements to the media, within the framework of Agrifish, which begins in Brussels with the negotiation of fishing quotas.
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. “These are issues that are favorable to the interests of our fishing sector and allow for better business planning,” he indicated.
A first meeting is scheduled to take place this Sunday until 5:00 p.m., in which, as Planas has pointed out, the ruling of the Court of Justice regarding the margins of maneuver used by Ireland will be weighed.
“This element will also weigh in this year’s discussion, which is a very complex discussion because we have to set TACs and quotas for all community waters but we also have to divide it among the Member States. This will be the basis of the negotiation,” he said.
The minister has stated that being a minister and being president of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries is “perfectly compatible” with defending the Spanish quotas. “What corresponds to me as minister is to reach an agreement at the European Union level. Obviously, Spain is the leading fishing fleet in the European Union, approximately 8,700 vessels, almost 800,000 tons of extractive fishing, and we have a very important interest there. We We will be in charge of enforcing it and myself as minister of making an arbitration between the interests of each in this regard,” he commented.
