Opening Remarks by Commissioner Kadis during the Structured Dialogue at the Committee on Fisheries (PECH) of the European Parliament

Honourable Members,

I am happy to see you all again today, and to have this exchange with you. Since we last met in February, we have progressed with the implementation of my mission letter, intensified our outreach to stakeholders and coastal communities – in many cases with some of you. We have also addressed pressing challenges and delivered on key priorities. Your support in this endeavour has been invaluable and I would like to sincerely thank you for this.

Let me mention just a few examples:

I held the first Fisheries and Ocean Dialogues, participated in my first Youth Policy Dialogue, launched our new EU-wide aquaculture campaign and held the first Implementation Dialogue on maritime spatial planning. A second implementation dialogue on small-scale fisheries will also soon take place.

We successfully negotiated a landmark agreement to combat non-sustainable fishing practices by non-EU countries on fish stocks of common interest, which was formally adopted by the Council just yesterday. And let me once again congratulate the Rapporteur, Mr Bajada, and all shadow rapporteurs for their excellent work on this important file.

We reached an agreement with the UK on full reciprocal access to waters until 2038, which provides legal certainty and long-term stability for fishers on both sides of the Channel.

We made tangible progress in the implementation of the Control Regulation by introducing derogations for the unsorted pelagic fisheries sector in certain ports and advancing work on the next delegated and implementing acts.

We signed a new protocol with Ivory Coast and the Cook Islands that resumes our cooperation under the fisheries partnership agreements.

And delivering on my promise to directly meet with fishers and to travel to all Member States by the end of the mandate, I have already visited coastal and fishing communities in Italy, Spain, France, Sweden, Denmark, Cyprus, Malta, Ireland, Greece, Belgium, Finland and Poland. And I would like to sincerely thank those of you who have joined me during these missions. We share the same goal of supporting our fishing sector and it is important that we pass this message of support together.

Dear colleagues, we actually reached our real cruising speed in June, with the adoption of the European Ocean Pact, one of the key deliverables of my mandate.

Let me take this opportunity to thank you once again for the important contribution of this Committee to the Ocean Pact. For our many inspiring exchanges, for the excellent position papers from the political groups, and for your continuous encouragement to be ambitious. In preparing the Ocean Pact, we considered many of your suggestions and reflections, and I was pleased to hear many positive reactions during the July plenary debate in Strasbourg.

Both the European Ocean Pact and the UN Ocean Conference in Nice have created an incredible momentum for ocean action. It will now be our joint responsibility to keep this momentum going.

The preparation of the Ocean Pact was a collective exercise across the institutions. The same collective effort is now needed to implement what we announced in the Ocean Pact. Within the Commission, we are already working full speed to deliver on our commitments.

Our focus will first and foremost be on the Ocean Act, which will ensure that existing targets linked to the ocean are identifiable under one roof. This should facilitate their coherent and effective implementation, while at the same time decreasing administrative burden. The Ocean Act will build on a revision of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive.

We started with a very useful implementation dialogue on the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive and will now evaluate the Directive. 

In preparing the Ocean Act, we will ensure the integration of our Ocean Observation initiative, building on the digital twin of the Ocean, which will be key to improving our knowledge on the ocean. This is particularly important in light of developments across the Atlantic, as well as with the revision of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Honourable Members,

Let me also say a few words on various priorities under the Ocean Pact, which I know this committee follows very closely and which will require our full attention over the coming weeks and months: the situation in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean, the evaluation of the CFP Regulation, the Vision 2040 and the energy transition roadmap.

The situation in the Baltic Sea remains extremely worrying. And more than ever, we need a holistic approach.

To address the dire situation in the Baltic, I am organising a new edition of the “Our Baltic Conference” together with Sweden as BaltFish presidency and with Commissioner Roswall – next week in Stockholm. This conference will bring together the Ministers of Environment, Agriculture, and Fisheries of all the EU Baltic Sea Member States. And I very much welcome the participation of Members of this Parliament too.

Five years after the adoption of the ‘Our Baltic Declaration, it is time to reflect on progress made and think ahead. How do we pursue our objective towards a healthy Baltic Sea in good environmental status? How do we reverse the worrying trend of declining fish stocks?

The EU legal tools are comprehensive. But to effectively tackle the situation and to reverse the dire situation of the Baltic Sea, a more ambitious and sustained effort in the implementation and enforcement is needed. This is the only way in which we will address the situation in the long term. 

Our proposal for the 2026 fishing opportunities reflects this challenging situation in the Baltic and is based on the latest scientific advice from ICES as well as on our applicable legal framework.

As regards the Mediterranean region, the Commission is preparing the new Pact for the Mediterranean, that will pave the way towards a common space of peace, prosperity and stability. We will support the development of a blue economy sea-basin strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean, which currently lacks a dedicated structure for cooperation, but also, and very importantly, work with our neighbours to address IUU fishing and lack of level-playing field.

More specifically on fisheries, it is positive to see that, overall, the situation of fish stocks has gradually started to improve in the Western Mediterranean, and this is clearly thanks to the measures we have put in place with Member States and to the efforts by our fishers.

For next years fishing opportunities proposal, we will again take into account all available management tools, including the compensation mechanism, to improve gear selectivity and area closures. The compensation measures will ensure that our fisheries sector can continue fishing, ensuring environmental, economic and social sustainability.

Moreover, I have heard the various issues and questions raised by several Members of this Committee, Member States and stakeholders, and we are exploring potential future amendments to the Multi-annual plan for the Mediterranean. However, it is clear that any amendment will require an impact assessment. And this takes time.

Regarding the evaluation of our CFP Regulation, we are working at full speed on it and plan to present the results in spring next year. It will provide a good basis to make informed decisions as regards the future of the CFP, including its revision where necessary, and on how to develop our long-term vision for a resilient, competitive and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture sector with a 2040 perspective.

At the same time, the Commission is pursuing the work on energy transition initiated 2 years ago. Central to this effort is the Energy Transition Roadmap, due early 2026. It will guide fisheries and aquaculture towards climate neutrality, focusing on regulations, financing, innovation, and skills. It will be presented at a high-level conference in February 2026 in Brussels. We hope representatives of this committee will be able to attend as well

Finally, a few words also on the Northeast Atlantic consultations.

As regards negotiations with the UK, Norway and within the coastal States framework, our goal is to secure timely and mutually beneficial agreements that provide stability to our fisheries sector, based on a sustainable management of the stocks anchored in scientific advice. The Commission will stand firm in advancing and preserving the EU interests.

At the same time, scientific advice shows that several important stocks, in particular in the Celtic Sea, are under pressure. This calls for remedial measures and for responsible management, to ensure that these stocks to recover. 

And last but not least, let me say a few words on the new Multi-annual Financial Framework.

The Commission proposal is a fundamental redesign of the EU budget to make it more streamlined, flexible and impactful. With more flexibility across the budget, the Union will have the capacity to act and react fast when circumstances change unexpectedly or when new policy priorities need to be addressed. Furthermore, it will allow the Union to provide funding to additional and emerging priorities, in the absence of additional resources to do so.

What is important from our perspective is that the new MFF recognises that fisheries and aquaculture producers are the lifeblood of Europes coastal communities and economies. It will also support the implementation of the EUs policies and actions under the European Ocean Pact.   

The importance of ocean, fisheries and aquaculture related policies features in all three major building blocks of the new EU budget: the European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion, agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security, the competitiveness fund and the Global Europe fund.

Together, these funds ensure robust financial support for EU fisheries and aquaculture, coastal communities, the blue economy, the conservation of marine biological resources and other ocean related policies.