The Council held a public debate on the three main proposals for regulations in the common fisheries policy (CFP) reform "package":
· proposal for a regulation on the CFP replacing the basic provisions of the CFP;
· proposal for a regulation on the common organisation (CMO) of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products, focusing on market policy issues;
· proposal for a regulation on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) replacing the existing European Fisheries Fund.
With regard to the common organisation of the markets in fisheries and aquaculture most Member States asserted that the role and the responsibilities of producer organisations should be strengthened, as well as their organisation and access to EU funding.
While better information for consumers was generally considered as a key element of the proposal, many Member States insisted that this should not interfere with horizontal provisions both on food labelling and on fisheries control. Some Member States expressed their support for a voluntary EU label identifying sustainable fisheries.
With regard to market measures, different views were expressed:
· some Member States strongly defended the storage mechanism as the best measure to apply in the event of a crisis, whilst others countries opposed this mechanism which in their view could create distortion;
· the need to maintain a level playing field concerning trade standards and sustainability objectives between imports from third countries and EU products was an important point raised by several delegations.