“I am heartened to hear the many commitments made here today. This is such an important signal that underlines the broad global support for the Treaty of the High Seas. It reflects a common understanding that we must urgently address the challenges the Ocean are facing. Challenges that humankind has brought to bear” – EU Commissioner Hoekstra at the “High Ambition for the High Seas” UNGA event.
From 15 to 17 April, Commissioner Sinkevičius is travelling first to Cyprus and then to Greece to discuss key environmental files and participate in the 9th ‘Our Ocean’ Conference.
With 481 votes in favour, 79 against and 26 abstentions, Parliament adopted the deal reached with the Council in January 2024 on revising the EU’s water management and urban wastewater treatment standards to better protect public health and the environment.
The aim of the scheme is to promote cooperation and integration between operators in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and to stimulate better market relations. In particular, the scheme will support the development of sectoral contracts, through investment aid which will be distributed among a variety of beneficiaries operating in the different segments of the sector, from production to the processing and the marketing of fishery and aquaculture products.
The draft UN system-wide strategy for water and sanitation calls on the support of the United Nations to assist Member States in acceding to, implementing and complying with the Water Convention, highlighting that “operational arrangements for transboundary basins are pivotal for managing water, protecting ecosystems and promoting peace”.
Today, the Commission has launched a public consultation on ways to better protect and manage sharks and related marine ecosystems, to help prepare follow-up to the European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Finning – Stop the Trade”. It will be available online for a period of twelve weeks, until 4 June 2024. Today’s public consultation follows the call for evidence launched on 22 February 2024 to collect data and expertise on a
The Commission adopted today two new measures to enhance the EU’s water resilience and to improve water quality and quantity throughout the continent.
Today the Council has formally adopted a regulation that transposes into EU law certain fisheries management, conservation and control measures in the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) convention area. The newly-adopted regulation also updates the multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
EU member states’ representatives greenlight an agreement reached between the Council’s and the Parliament’s negotiators on updated fisheries measures in the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) area.
Once formally adopted, the regulation will implement into EU law new rules on management, conservation and control for the NEAFC area, as well as control measures for certain pelagic species in the North-East Atlantic agreed during coastal states consultations. The text will
The Commission has concerns that, between 2011 and 2019, the six salmon producers, exchanged commercially sensitive information, relating to sales prices, available volumes, sales volumes, production volumes and production capacities, as well as other price-setting factors. The suspected aim of this alleged conduct was to reduce normal uncertainty in the market for spot sales of Norwegian farmed Atlantic salmon into the EU.
MEPs criticise the Commission’s proposal to ban mobile bottom fisheries in marine protected areas and want reforms of the EU common fisheries strategy to address specific issues. Following a morning devoted to debating the EU’s fisheries strategy, in particular the proposals conveyed in the Commission’s fisheries package, MEPs voted on and approved three reports on the issue.
The Torne River is the longest free-flowing river in Northern Europe. Over a period of hundreds of years, a borderless, community-based and original dipnet fishing culture has developed in the rapids of the river. The culture is still vibrant. Dipnet fishing is an old form of fishing that goes back hundreds of years. It is practised in the Kukkolankoski and Matkakoski rapids mainly to catch whitefish. The fishing equipment is
The world needs minerals in the transition to a low-emission society. Today, the extraction of minerals is largely concentrated in a few countries or among a few companies, often with lower environmental standards and poorer labor rights than what is the case in Norway. The government will explore the opportunities for Norway to contribute to meeting the great global demand for minerals in a responsible manner.
In 2023, the Adriatic Sea surface temperature has been higher than the long term average, and high river discharges (due to heavy rainfall) have lowered nearshore salinity in the early summer. These variations in oceanographic parameters could represent additional environmental stressors for mussels. The Commission has not been notified of exceptional mussel mortalities in other areas in the past months.
Today, the Commission is launching a call for European cities committed to sustainability to apply for the 2026 edition of the European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards. Cities are invited to register for the contest via this webpage and can send their applications until 30 April 2024.
The Fishing Opportunities Regulation includes the results of the agreements reached ahead of the Council with Norway and the UK on a bilateral basis, and between the three parties jointly, as well as with other coastal States. Stocks shared with third countries result in fishing opportunities for the EU in the next year of over 1.6 million tonnes and worthing almost €2.2 billion (adjusted for inflation).
The agreement with the UK covers 85 total allowable catches in the Northeast Atlantic. It secures fishing opportunities of almost 388,000 tonnes for the EU fleet, estimated to be worth around €1 billion based on historic wholesale prices, adjusted for inflation.
The Council today unanimously adopted a regulation opening autonomous EU tariff quotas (ATQs) for certain fishery products for the years 2024, 2025 and 2026, and establishing rules for the management of these quotas. The newly adopted regulation aims to ensure that the EU’s fish processing industry can continue to source raw materials for further processing from non-EU countries at reduced rates of duty or duty-free.
Today, the EU and Canada have established a Green Alliance at a bilateral Summit in St John’s, Newfoundland. The Alliance will strengthen political, technical, economic and scientific cooperation between these two like-minded partners. It covers climate action, environmental and ocean protection, the clean energy transition, green industrial transformation, research and innovation and climate and biodiversity finance.
Among the main measures, the EU and neighbouring countries agreed within the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) to launch new tools to keep track of the activities of all fleets fishing in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas and sharing the various multiannual management plans (MAPs).
EU countries must restore at least 30% of habitat areas covered by the new law by 2030, 60% by 2040, and 90% by 2050. Targets to restore drained peatlands to reduce agricultural sector emissions and improve biodiversity. Emergency brake included whereby provisions for agricultural ecosystems can be temporarily suspended under exceptional circumstances
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