Question
How many visits (over the last five years) has DG MARE conducted, at the level of senior or junior officials, to meet with fishers’ organisations or practitioners in Member States and their regions, in order to consult on and explain the 2013 Common Fisheries Policy reform, and how many such organisations or practitioners have the DG MARE officials met during the course of these visits or in Brussels?
Answer
The Commission has conducted consultations on the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), both in preparation of its legislative proposal in July 2011, during negotiations and after adoption and its entry into force. Earliest consultations on the reform took place in late 2008. With the publication of the Commission’s Green Paper on the reform of the common fisheries policy a public consultation was started which lasted until end 2010. During that public consultation period 35 encounters took place with Member States administrations, 32 encounters took place with administrations other than fisheries, with regional administrations and others (for instance with the Lower Normandy administration), 12 encounters took place with European institutions (for instance the Committee of the Regions), 43 encounters took place with stakeholders (industry, civil society organisations), and 7 encounters took place with external organisms (for instance the Nordic Council of Ministers). Besides the more than 125 formal encounters, many informal consultations and dialogues have taken place, with numerous organisations and practitioners. For the period before and after this fully documented consultation process no specific numbers are available of the meetings. The Commission confirms that consultations since then have continued at a rate of intensity similar to the consultation period quoted above.
The Commission continues to meet with stakeholders during the implementation phase of the CFP. The details of recent meetings of Commissioner Vella and the Director General of DG MARE with organisations and self-employed individuals are available on the European Commission Transparency Initiative website.
