The EESC, a consultative body within the EU structure, has urged the Commission to press for reform of the fisheries control system without waiting for the debate on a new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2010.
At a plenary session in May, the European Economic and Social Committee adopted an opinion which stressed the urgent need for a reform in order to combat fraudulent practices, to guarantee the sustainability of resources, and to improve the effectiveness of the policy throughout the whole process “from net to plate”.
The EESC described the current control system as ”ineffective, expensive, complex and does not produce results”.
Richard Adams of the United Kingdom, who introduced the opinion, underlined the Commission’s Green Paper on CFP reform, introduced last April, and said it was now important to “support the Commission’s new approach” as for combating the fraudulent practices that were still going on and were difficult to detect.
The new Control Regulation is to be discussed and voted by the Council of Ministers in June, for possible final adoption during the Swedish Presidency in the second half of 2009.