On 21 September, in a parliamentary resolution highlighting the need for the EU to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2020, MEPs stressed that biodiversity objectives should be mainstreamed into EU policies, including the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

In a wide ranging resolution, fisheries policy and the marine environment is well covered. The Parliament stresses the need to integrate biodiversity objectives and environmental legislation into fisheries policy: “the CFP must not hinder but facilitate Member States’ compliance with biodiversity legislation, in particular the establishment of adequate protection measures in marine Natura 2000 sites”.

There are also more precise policy demands such as: “a reduction in discards must be a major objective of the CFP”. The report also calls for action at the international level via regional fishery management organisations.

The non- legislative resolution is based on the report by Dutch Christian Democrat MEP Esther de Lange: EU legislation aiming at the conservation of biodiversity. It supports the EU Leaders agreement in March this year of a new 2020 target to halt biodiversity loss, after the EU failed to meet its 2010 target. From 18 October, the UN Conference on Biological Diversity meeting of the Parties in Japan will discuss a new approach to how to halt the decline in global biodiversity.

European Parliament Press Release

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