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Galicia will be the rapporteur Region for the response of the European Committee of the Regions to the measures on the future of fisheries announced by the European Commission
— The Director General for External Relations and the EU, Jesús Gamallo, will be the rapporteur for the opinion on the sustainability and resilience of coastal communities in the European Union.
Brussels, March 30th 2023. The Director General for External Relations and the European Union, Jesús Gamallo, took part today in the meeting of the Natural Resources Commission (NAT) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). At this meeting, Galicia was unanimously appointed as the rapporteur region for the opinion The Common Fisheries Policy on the ground: Towards sustainable and resilient coastal communities in the EU.
The appointment of Galicia as rapporteur for this opinion reinforces the Galician community’s leading position in fisheries at EU level. Jesús Gamallo pointed out that, following the measures announced by the European Commission in recent months, it is great news that the voice of the regions and municipalities most affected will be taken into account. For Galicia, moreover, it is “a great opportunity to contribute our knowledge and recognition of our work to defend our maritime and fishing industry”.
“We take on this work with responsibility and we will develop it in contact with the sector. Our aim is that the position of the European regions on the future of the Fisheries Policy takes into account sustainability, as well as the social and economic dimension of a sector that is vital to us,” said the director general.
“It is “a recognition of our work to defend our maritime and fishing industry”
The drafting of the opinion is the CoR’s response to a raft of rules that began with the European Commission’s veto on bottom fishing in 87 areas in the North-East Atlantic. The first measures, which came into force in October 2022, were augmented in February, when the Commission urged member states to ban trawling in 20% of their waters by March 2024.
The Xunta de Galicia has just filed the Community’s application to intervene as an intervener in the appeal against the decision lodged by the Organización de Produtores Pesqueiros de Burela. In addition, the Galician Parliament unanimously rejected the veto in September 2022, when it was presented.
Galicia in the European Committee of the Regions’ NAT commission
In this seventh term of the CoR, which began in early 2020, Galicia participates in the Natural Resources Commission (NAT) and the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX). NAT prepares the opinions of European municipalities and regions in areas such as the Common Agricultural Policy, fisheries, tourism and public health.
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