Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I am glad to have the opportunity to update the House on the result of a long but successful Council of Ministers meeting last night. Its objective was to get agreement among member states on a Common Position from the Council's perspective on the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, reform. This morning's EU Fisheries Council adopted a general approach on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. This general approach will form the negotiating mandate for the Council in the negotiations with the EU Parliament, which will commence after the EU Parliament has established its position. This will happen in the autumn. It is very likely that the negotiations between the Council and Parliament will take place during the first half of 2013, during Ireland's Presidency of the EU.

The meeting of the Fisheries Council focused on finding solutions to political issues in the Common Fisheries Policy reform package. Following the intensive negotiations, lasting 20 hours into this morning, the Council agreed a general approach. While there was general political agreement in advance of the Fisheries Council on the overall objective of eliminating discards, the issue that had to be solved was how to practically achieve a situation where fishing practices were changed while protecting the economic viability of the fishing industry. In order to find solutions, I tabled at the Council a new approach to deal with discards which took into account the real practical difficulties of changing practices, the economic impacts and other constraints which impact on fishermen in mixed fisheries. The proposal involved delivering a progressive and phased approach to the obligation to land catches of quota stocks in a mixed fishery context. I met fishing industry representatives last Thursday for detailed discussions on this approach. On Monday evening, I again met the industry representatives who had travelled to Luxembourg for the Council discussions and discussed with them the options and strategy for the Council meeting.

My approach combined appropriate technical measures to reduce catches of juveniles and other vulnerable stocks with quota adjustments to facilitate the transition for fishermen and cushion any early economic hardship that might result. The practical arrangements involved setting a start date and an end date for the delivery of a requirement to land all catches of quota stocks in each fishery. This approach was focused on incentivising changes in fishing practices, reducing catches of juvenile fish and allowing fish stocks to grow over a set period. I believe this approach stood the best chance of securing buy-in from fishermen and, in this way, delivering effective, more environmentally friendly fishing practices and sustainable fisheries into the future.

At the Council, I worked closely with fellow Ministers to agree appropriate measures. It is worth noting that some Ministers were seeking the immediate application of a discards ban to all species while others were seeking to delay the requirement to land all stocks until the latest possible date, even as late as 2020. The proposals I had tabled offered a middle ground which was viewed, especially by Ministers where the fishing sector is economically important, as practical and deliverable. In the end, the Council's position supports a three year phasing in of the requirement to land all quota stocks in mixed fisheries. It sets a start date of 1 January 2015 for whitefish stocks in Irish waters and provides that this will apply to all species by the end of 2018 at the latest. As for pelagic stocks, such as herring and mackerel, the requirement to land all catches applies from 1 January 2014.

A critical part of my approach involves ensuring that fishermen will not be disadvantaged, from a quota perspective, arising from this new requirement to land all quota stocks. I am pleased that, as part of the package, Commissioner Damanaki committed to further work in this regard specifying that the elimination of discards is not intended to reduce fishing opportunities. I secured a specific declaration from her on that issue. At the Council, the Commissioner accepted additional quotas must be introduced to meet the additional landings arising from this new policy.

The final and most important element of the package on discards relates to introducing technical measures, such as mesh size increases and escape panels, to reduce catches of juvenile fish to a minimum. The arrangements provide that member states, on a regional basis, will work with their industry and other stakeholders through the regional advisory councils to put in place such measures. The policy's new regional approach to decision making will enable these measures, where agreed by member states, to be adopted without delay by the European Commission and introduced in the relevant fisheries. I am confident Ireland will be in a position to move quickly on the adoption of these technical measures, which will support the phased introduction of the landing requirement in its mixed whitefish fisheries.

There has been agreement on many of the other important issues under review. Much progress has been made over recent months on many of Ireland's priority issues, in particular on agreeing a practical approach that will provide for decision making on a regional basis, as I noted earlier, as well as a commitment to deliver fish quotas based on scientific advice that will deliver a maximum sustainable yield per species in fisheries by 2015 where possible, and by 2020 at the latest for all stocks for which it is possible to put together information to make a calculation as to what is the maximum sustainable yield. There also was agreement that at European level, the development of an aquaculture industry must be supported and the policy provides for regional advisory councils involving stakeholders for aquaculture to ensure problems can be discussed and resolved as they arise and that best practices are shared across all sectors. I welcome this in particular as there is huge potential in Ireland to expand and grow aquaculture and finfish farming. However, this must be done in a sustainable way and in the correct locations.

Finally, and of paramount importance to Ireland, there was the removal of the mandatory proposals on privatisation of national fishing quotas from the Council's general approach. I have been a strong opponent of this proposal as it would have threatened the economic survival of Ireland's coastal communities essentially by allowing industries and individuals with the buying power potentially to buy up the white fish quota in particular from Irish fishing ports and would have consolidated the fishing industry in Ireland and potentially throughout Europe, which would have done untold and irreversible damage. I welcome the arrangements now supported by the Council to allow each member state manage its fish quotas to take account of its own individual circumstances, as will Ireland. Delivery of this key element was a vital part of the package, from my perspective, that allowed me to support it. I consider this Council agreement to offer a strong and progressive Common Fisheries Policy reform. I hope the new arrangements will be welcomed by both the industry and those campaigning for a more sustainable approach towards fisheries management.

As I understand I have a further five minutes available to me, let me give Members-----

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