Implementing Regulation protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems in the north-east Atlantic

25.10.2022

Question for written answer  E-003496/2022
to the Commission
Rule 138
France Jamet (ID)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1614 of 15 September 2022 lists 87 areas over a total surface area of 16 000 km² along Member States’ Atlantic coastlines where vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) are likely to occur. It also bans fishing with bottom gears in those areas from 9 October 2022.

This EU decision will have serious socio-economic repercussions for the fishermen who work in those areas and for the local populations that depend on those fishermen, such as Brittany in France and Galicia in Spain.

• 1.Has the Commission carried out a socio-economic impact assessment on the professional sectors of the Member States affected by the regulation? If so, what were its findings?
• 2.When does the scientific advice on which the Commission based its decision date back to?
• 3.Why is the Commission imposing the same ban on some types of fishing gear (such as longlines and pots) which are both much more selective than others and in keeping with the EU’s sustainability goals?