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THE European Commission's long awaited plans for the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy will be published after midday tomorrow.
It promises to be one of the most important documents affecting the fishing industries of more than a dozen nations, including the United Kingdom, for more than a decade. It is also likely to lead to huge arguments and debate - and no little controversy.
Just what this first package (there will be others) contains remains to be seen, but proposals are certain to demand an end to discards and a fundamental restructuring of the way catches are allocated and shared out.
The UK Government is calling for serious reform of what it describes as fundamental broken rules.Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon has said he wanted to see different parts of the EU given more control over fisheries to reflect regional differences across Europe and an end to "micro-managing" by Brussels. He also said there should be an end to "discards".
The reform of the CFP was a once-in-a-decade chance to correct the mistakes in the policy which had left "too many fishing communities hanging on by their fingernails" around the UK, he added.
EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki has not been short of advice from politicians, industry leaders and non government organisations (NGOs). Last week a group of NGOs claimed that current over-fishing was costing the EU €32 billion a year.
Saskia Richartz, of Greenpeace, said, "Europe's fishing grounds were once among the most productive in the world, but 40 years of the CFP have resulted in serious depletion of fish populations, ecosystem degradation and damage to species, habitats and sites supposedly protected by EU environmental legislation. There have been similar calls from the World Wildlife Fund and others.
The Commissioner has already given some idea of what the proposals are likely to contain. She said recently: "I am devoting my efforts to devising an ambitious, yet realistic and feasible project for European fisheries. I will make sure the Commission's proposals pivot around sustainability, conservation, decentralised decision making and industry empowerment.
"We have all recognised - and I have had your support in building this foundation - that we have no choice but to radically change our production and consumption patterns if we want to keep our seas in good shape for future generations."
Ms Damanaki added: "This first package will have an overarching communication, a new basic regulation, a new Common Market regulation, a communication on the external dimension of our policy and a report on access to waters.The future financial regulation will then follow towards the end of 2011.Looking at the calendar, it is fair to say that 2012 will be the year of delivery."
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