10 December 2008
The NFFO has fielded a strong team to attend the December Council where critical decisions on fishing opportunities for next year will be made.
The team, chosen to cover all of the Federation’s regional and sectoral interests, will travel to Brussels on 17th December to prepare for the Council on 18th and 19th December.
The Federation has been working with Defra officials since April to identify and agree the main UK priorities for the Council, which will probably run through the night of the 18th and conclude in the early hours of the 19th. Preparation is vital because the UK’s geography gives it many more fisheries to deal with than most other EU member states but each country only has a finite amount of negotiating capital to “spend” at the Council to secure its objectives.
Preparation also allows for the careful marshalling of coherent, evidence-based arguments in support of our objectives. The December Council is a notoriously flawed process that has repeatedly produced impractical and poorly thought through legislation; this can be counteracted to some degree if at national level, our ministers and their supporting officials have discussed the issues thoroughly with the fishing industry beforehand. It is hoped that the stresses caused by the different political complexions of the administrations in London and Edinburgh will not undermine the unity of purpose necessary for a successful outcome.
NFFO 10th December