| EU subsidises companies guilty of illegal fishing in African waters |
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“The fact that the EU pays subsidies to vessels fishing in African waters is already a problem because, by doing so, European taxpayers are exacerbating poor African people’s difficulty to sustain livelihoods,” said Isabella Loevin MEP, who is a member of the fisheries committee. “But that the subsidies go to European vessels violating international law is highly embarrassing and immoral,” she added. Loevin explained that the European Parliament has questioned the Commission over this policy, but that “The EC position is that the national governments are responsible to check that their fishing companies receiving subsidies do not break international law.” This however runs contrary to the EU’s commitment to Policy Coherence for Development (PCD), which compels the EU to seek to address policy areas which are counter-productive to its development commitments. Last week’s parliamentary resolution on PCD urged “the Commission and Member States to give an overall assessment of the fisheries agreements with third countries, so as to ensure that the European Union's external policy in the field of fisheries is completely consistent with its development policy, while strengthening European Union partner countries' capacity to guarantee sustainable fishing in their waters, enhancing food security and local employment in the sector”. A study by Fishsubsidy.org, a London-based watchdog group, reveals that 36 vessels guilty of illegal fishing received more than 13.5 million euro in EU subsidies between 1994 and 2006, and five of these received over one million euro each. Jack Thurston, co-founder of Fishsubsidy.org, said that this study gives only “a snapshot of the problem of illegal fishing and the prevalence of EU subsidies being paid to vessels that have been convicted of illegal fishing, or that have gone on to break the law after having received subsidies”. He called on European governments to “publish comprehensive lists of convictions for illegal fishing so that we can know who is breaking the law.” Source:  |
NGOs and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have called on the EU to reverse its harmful policy of subsidising European fishing companies which have been found guilty of illegal fishing in African waters. The EU spends one billion euro a year on subsidies to industrial fishing companies, many of whom have been caught breaking international law.
