Spanish fishing body, CEPESCA, calls on Luis Planas, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to support and defend its activity in Europe. Photo: Fintan
Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas will meet with the Spanish fishing, aquaculture, and specialized food trade sector on March 22, responding to a meeting requested by this group last February.
In addition to discussing the proposals to be debated at the upcoming informal meeting of EU Fisheries Ministers in Bruges, Belgium on March 24 and 25, the sector will raise all the demands that led them to support the protests of the Spanish primary sector from the outset. This support culminated in their participation in the demonstration held in Madrid on February 26.
As they have expressed on several occasions, fishermen, aquaculturists, and fishmongers agree with the rest of the actors in the primary sector on a series of demands, one of which is the environmental obsession of the European Commission (EC) when it comes to legislating. Precisely, the European Parliament (EP) approved on February 27 the Nature Restoration Law promoted by the EC, aiming to restore 30% of marine ecosystems integrated into the Natura 2000 Network by 2030. The sector has repeatedly expressed the lack of sufficient scientific support and the absence of an assessment of the socio-economic impact of this Law, notes CEPESCA in a press release.
“It is worth noting that operators in the fishing sector also want to address with Minister Planas the unfair competition exerted by third countries, the lack of incentives to promote generational turnover, the Government’s refusal to the repeated requests for reduction or elimination of VAT to encourage the consumption of fishery products, subjected to a dramatic reduction since 2008, the limited promotion of its consumption, or the increasing bureaucratic complexity to manage the activity before the administrations,” says national fishing representative body, CEPESCA.
“Finally, the sector will once again request Planas’ support and defence of their activity in Europe, being the leading fishing and aquaculture power, and a leader in transformation and marketing in the Old Continent, as well as a model of sustainability and best practices. In this regard, the sector will convey to the minister the importance of the upcoming European Elections regarding the primary sector and the defence of the European food sector, especially considering the new global scenarios and international geopolitics,” concluded the CEPESCA statement.