New Era of Co-Decision Making

The Lisbon Treaty means that from here on in all decisions on European fisheries issues will be made jointly by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. The exception to this general arrangement is the year-end decisions on quota and effort levels, which will still be made by the Council on the basis of a proposal by the Commission.

Although over the years the Federation has maintained good relations with the European Parliament and specific MEPs within it, it is clear that this change will require a new intensity of engagement if the NFFO is to remain influential in the decision making process.

The Federation has already made sure that key MEPs have been fully briefed on the NFFO’s views on CFP reform and one of the first big challenges facing the Parliament lies in picking up the dossier on technical conservation measures. This was blocked when member states objected, not only to the content of the proposed technical rules, but to the Commission’s attempt to transfer a large measure of decision making authority to itself.