Karmenu Vella, European commissioner for the environment, maritime affairs and fisheries, has presented contingency measures to mitigate the impact on fisheries in case of a “no-deal” Brexit.
The acts, tabled by the European Commission in January, have been agreed to by member states and European Parliament.
A first measure amends the Regulation on the Sustainable Management of the External Fleets, with the aim of creating the appropriate legal framework for continued reciprocal fishing access by E.U. and U.K. vessels to each other’s waters during 2019, provided the United Kingdom grants such access for E.U. vessels.
The second measure allows fishermen and operators from E.U. members states to receive compensation for the temporary cessation of fishing activities, due to Brexit, under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). According to the European Commission, this will help to offset some of the impacts of a sudden closure of U.K. waters to E.U. fishing vessels.
In a press conference on Brexit preparedness in Brussels, Vella pointed to the positive results delivered by the E.U.’s common fisheries policy, particularly in the Northeast Atlantic and the North Sea, and said that it was thanks to the “persistent efforts” of fishermen and authorities in the United Kingdom and in other member states that there had been a shift from rampant overfishing to the sustainable use of shared marine resources.
“It’s a positive legacy. One that all seafaring nations in the region have a responsibility to and interest in consolidating for future generations. The overall aim of the commission is therefore, after Brexit, to secure a long-term relationship with the U.K. that ensures the sustainable use of the around 100 shared fish stocks,” he said. “Our preference remains an orderly withdrawal of the U.K., which would provide stability and certainty until a new agreement is negotiated. However, we have also prepared for a no-deal Brexit.”
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is due to return to Brussels this week to ask the E.U. for another Brexit extension, widely thought to be to the end of June. If this isn’t granted, the United Kingdom will leave the E.U. on Friday, 12 April.
