Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002721/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Nicolás González Casares (S&D)
The Long Distance Fisheries Advisory Council and Market Advisory Council recently issued a serious warning about the lack of monitoring of and failure to comply with EU law on inspecting imports of fishery products, which could be allowing products from fleets linked to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to be entering the EU.
In terms of numbers, the two advisory councils report that only 0.29 % of the almost 800 000 catch certificates for imports between 2020 and 2023 were subject to verification requests. In addition, only 0.01 % of imports were rejected, with huge differences between countries: while Spain sent hundreds of verification requests, Italy, Sweden and Portugal made hardly any requests.
In addition, the legal obligation to inspect at least 5 % of landings by third-country fleets is reportedly not being complied with. Again, there are huge differences between Member States: while Spain inspects over 80 % of such landings, the Netherlands and Poland only inspect 3 % and 2 % respectively.
Considering the above:
- 1.What will the Commission do to urge Member States to fulfil their verification obligations and to make monitoring more consistent between different countries?
- 2.Will the Commission initiate infringement procedures against Member States that fail to comply with the minimum legal inspection standards, therefore exposing the EU to imports of IUU fishing products?
Submitted: 3.7.2025