Where Do the European Parties Stand on Fisheries?
A big part of election time for me is seeing where there Parties stand on the issues. The easiest way to do this is reading their manifestos. I am sure I still have a collection of manifestos back in England from all the main Parties that I collected from 1982. Historically, at least in the British context, manifestos were seen as both a statement of intent of what a Party would do if elected into office. The idea that manifestos was a contract between the government and the people has faded in recent years, but the underlying notion is still there.
At the time of writing, not all the main European Political Parties have published their Manifestos. I’ll update this piece as more manifestos come up.
The reform of the CFP was adopted by a massive majority – 502 for and 137 against – in the European Parliament. Nearly all the main Groups in the European Parliament backed reform. Opposition came from a rump collection EPP and S&D group in Spain and France. The size of the majority in favour of discard restrictions was overwhelming.
The momentum in support of reform looks like it will continue into the new European parliament if manifesto commitments are anything to go by.
Where Do the Parties Stand
Europe’ Liberals ‘have led the reform of the common fisheries policy, notably to end discards and to decentralize decision-making” (see manifesto).
The Social Democrats “recognize the strategic rile of agriculture and fisheries for our societies, and want to promote a sustainable and thriving rural development”. The Social Democrat’s German CFP Rapporteur, Ulrike Rodust, is likely to be returned.
The European Greens “have played a strong role in reforming the EU’s fisheries policy’… and the back the “need to a living countryside…as well as abundant fish stock to support coastal communities” and only group to have a full section for “more fish in the seas” and calls for “much remains to be done to implement these reforms and to ensure that loopholes are not exploited” (see manifesto).
The EPP’s manifesto and the European Conservatives and Reformists Group’s (ECR) communique are silent on fisheries. The EPP’s powerful central and northern European block of MEPs backed the reform against the voting lines of their French colleagues.
It looks like any new Fisheries Commissioner who felt like backsliding on reform will find it difficult to get confirmed into office.