§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals the Department has made at EU level to reform the common fisheries policy. [51236]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government set out their views on the future of the common fisheries policy in September 2001, in response to the Commission's Green Paper on the subject.
Our primary aim must be a policy which is both economically and environmentally sustainable and which offers stakeholders greater involvement in management decisions affecting them. Only in that way will the CFP attract support and credibility from fishermen and so ensure responsible stock management and offer the prospect of a viable future. I strongly agree with the Commission's conclusions in their Green Paper on the operation of the CFP that it is not meeting its objectives. The Commission's actual proposals for the future of the CFP, which we need in order that these vital negotiations can start, are now expected imminently.