The Minister of the Sea, Ricardo Serrão Santos, presided today, June 15, at Centro Cultural de Belém, over an Informal Council of Ministers of Fisheries of the European Union, whose theme was centered on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy (PCP). At the event, the Fisheries area was represented by the Secretary of State for Fisheries, Teresa Coelho, and the DGRM was also part of the Portuguese delegation.

This ministerial meeting identified the positive results achieved since the entry into force of the current Common Fisheries Policy, on 1 January 2014, and the aspects that need to be improved in the near future.

Generally speaking, the delegations identified significant progress in terms of the sustainable management of marine resources, but defended that the economic and social component of fisheries should be better addressed, as well as the model for collecting information on fisheries, an essential instrument for good fisheries management. The Ministers also defended the importance of having a greater involvement of the Advisory Councils and representative fishing organizations in the decision-making process, and believe that a review of the current Common Fisheries Policy will take into account, namely, the European Ecological Pact , and Brexit.
Finally, everyone recognized the importance of finding flexible solutions within the framework of fisheries management, taking into account the specificities of small-scale coastal fishing, fisheries that take place in the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea, as well as fisheries that were heavily affected by the BREXIT.
With this meeting, a cycle of debates at ministerial level began, with a view to outlining the guidelines that will preside over the review of the current Common Fisheries Policy, which will take place following the assessment presented by the Commission, until December 31, 2022.
 

The following video, welcomed all the participants