On Tuesday 15 November the Commission released its work programme for 2012, accompanied by an Annex detailing all the initiatives planned for the end of 2011 and for 2012-2014.
Below are the main items of interest from a fisheries perspective.
These initiatives are in addition to the ongoing CFP reform package.
MARITME AFFAIRS AND FISHEIRES
- Setting a framework for Maritime Spatial Planning: A legislative proposal to ensure that Member States provide a stable, reliable and future-oriented integrated planning framework to optimize the use of marine space to benefit economic development and the marine environment and that in doing so they apply a common approach in order to facilitate cross-border maritime spatial planning.
- Blue Growth: sustainable growth from the oceans, seas and coasts. This will be a non-legislative initiative. The Communication will build on the findings of an on-going study exploring sustainable growth and employment in established, emerging and prospective maritime sectors based on the innovative use of marine and coastal resources as drivers for innovation and competitiveness.
- Conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of marine organisms. A legislative proposal that aims to develop new technical measures framework for the Atlantic and the North Sea following the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) to ensure the protection of marine biological resources and the reduction of the impact of fishing activities on fish stocks and on marine eco-systems. It aims to simplify and bring together but also, where appropriate, improve the effectiveness of existing technical measures, in particular those laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 and its different amendments, as well as other technical measures included in Council Regulation (EC) No 1288/2009 and recovery plans currently in place.
- White Paper on maritime surveillance. A non-legislative Communication that will take stock of progress made and propose further actions. This includes an
identification of the financial implications of creating a Common Information Sharing Environment.
- Integration of maritime surveillance: This deals with the implementation of the Common Information Sharing Environment including its financial aspects. This non-legislative Communication will take stock of progress made and propose further actions. This includes an identification of the financial implications of creating a Common Information Sharing Environment.
- Establishing or revising long term plans for certain stocks and the fisheries exploiting those stocks (multispecies plans). This legislative initiative will address multi-species plans and will cover several fish stocks caught by the same fisheries and in the same area. They will be based on the provisions of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy.
REGIONAL POLICY
- Partnership contracts with Member States. This legislative institutive will address the partnership contracts between the Commission and each Member State will set out the commitments of
partners at national and regional level, as well as those of the Commission. They will be linked to the objectives of Europe 2020 strategy and the national reform programmes. They will establish an integrated approach for territorial development, supported by the funds under cohesion policy, rural development, and the maritime and fisheries policy, and will include objectives, strategic investments and a number of conditionalities.