Von der Leyen’s mission letter to new EU Commissioner-Designate for the Ocean sparks concerns that ocean health may only exist on paper
Press Release Date: September 17, 2024
Location: Brussels
Contact:
Natividad Sánchez | email: nsanchez@oceana.org | tel.: +34 687 598 529
Leading Brussels-based ‘blue NGOs’ congratulate Costas Kadis on his appointment as Commissioner-designate for Fisheries and Oceans, but raise concerns over the direction set by the mission letter published today by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Birdlife Europe & Central Asia, ClientEarth, Oceana, Seas at Risk, Surfrider Europe, and the WWF European Policy Office consider that the letter includes elements with potential to improve marine governance but fails to provide concrete means to a healthy ocean.
Cyrielle Goldberg, Marine Policy Officer at Birdlife Europe & Central Asia, said: “The last 30 years have been marked by appalling shortcomings in the implementation of environmental legislation in marine waters, pushing the prospect of achieving the objectives of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy further away, while science indicates that marine ecosystems keep on depleting. Just like agriculture, fisheries policies require an urgent and fundamental overhaul in terms of transitioning fishing practices, supporting fishers in their role in protecting marine ecosystems, and, more broadly, on their underlying consumption system. Halfway to 2030, Commissioner Kadis’ priority should be unequivocal: to ensure a just transition to low-impact fishing, leaving no one stranded.”
John Condon, Senior Lawyer at ClientEarth, said: “If Commissioner-designate Kadis is to succeed in his mandate, he must ramp up efforts to enforce the laws already in place. These laws contain the power to restore the ocean, but the gap is enforcement. The Commission has been falling short of its ‘watchdog’ duties; for instance it recently dropped legal actions against countries that have been failing to properly apply the fish discards ban. If this worrying trend continues, the EU Ocean Pact that is required under the mission letter will be worth little more than the paper it’s written on.”
Vera Coelho, Deputy Vice President for Oceana in Europe, said: “The mission letter clearly states that Commissioner Kadis must focus on fully implementing and evaluating the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This is a good sign that President von der Leyen is not willing to throw out a policy that has delivered significant progress in rebuilding fish populations and underpinning the highest profitability the fishing sector has seen in decades. The CFP remains a robust framework for sustainable fisheries management in Europe. A new vision for fisheries with a 2040 perspective should focus on building upon this solid basis to address challenges such as ensuring a just transition towards a low-impact fishing sector and tackling the climate crisis.”
Monica Verbeek, Executive Director for Seas At Risk, said: “President von der Leyen has missed a crucial opportunity to give the proposed EU Commission’s structure a coherent framework for the Fisheries and Oceans Commissioner to deliver, once and for all, transformative change for a healthy ocean, overlooking a recent warning from the European Environmental Agency. In the environmental sphere, ambitious yet empty words without concrete actions do not bode well for the future. We are committed to closely working with the future Commissioner and all members of the College of Commissioners to make sure that urgently needed actions are taken to bring the ocean back to health by 2030.”
Gaëlle Haut, EU affairs Coordinator at Surfrider Europe, said: “We regret the ocean and environmental portfolios are now split, despite the Ocean hosting 80% of biodiversity in our planet and its major role in the face of the climate crisis and global changes. Given the magnitude of the pollution crisis for our ocean, it is a pity the achievement of zero-pollution for our seas is not mentioned as one of the main responsibilities of Commissioner Kadis. Nevertheless, we welcome that adaptation to climate change has been made one of his priorities. The explicit mention of the Ocean as the world’s greatest sink is excellent news but we see with potential concern the development of blue carbon reserves, depending on the exact intention lying behind this mission. Achieving a healthy ocean, ensuring its resilience, reducing emissions and making the blue economy transition remain the best ways to support the Ocean as our climate ally”.
Dr Antonia Leroy, Head of EU Ocean Policy at the WWF European Policy Office, said: “The commitment to an Ocean Pact is a move in the right direction to address the triple crises of climate change, nature collapse, and pollution across our planet. However, while we welcome the inclusive process to design the Ocean Pact, we have significant concerns regarding the funding to support it. Strengthening policy coherence within this process will be crucial to its success, especially in positively advancing Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) as a key tool for sustainable ocean management”.
Notes to editors:
Europe’s seas are among the most intensively used marine waters globally and face significant threats from overfishing, pollution, and the cumulative impact of increased human activities. The European Environment Agency has identified the climate risks to coastal and marine ecosystems as the most severe on the continent, demanding immediate action. Europe is already experiencing rising sea levels and record sea surface temperatures.
With more than 40% of the European population living in coastal areas and with 75% of the EU’s foreign trade volume being conducted by sea, the ocean is a vital cultural and economic asset that the EU must safeguard.
