Document Ed6MXJK4rzr0v6ZRm0kOev17n

Ill Ref. Ares(2020)2975448- 09/06/2020 europeche ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS OF FISHING ENTERPRISES IN THE EU EP(20}38 COMMISSIONER Virginijus Sinkevicius European Commission Rue de la Loi 200 1049 Brussels Belgium Re.: Meeting request on EU Biodiversity Strategy Brussels, 8 June 2020 Dear Commissioner Sinkevicius, On behalf of the members of Europeche, we strongly feel the need to discuss in person with you the objectives set in the European Commission Biodiversity Strategy. As communicated during our first meeting, we highly appreciated your commitment towards fisheries policies that work for fishermen, coastal communities and the environment alike as well as your aspiration to have high socio, economic and environmental - sustainability principles to be respected globally. However, as fishing vessel owners and fishermen's representatives, we fail to see a balanced proposal for the reasons explained in the attached document. We are keen to hear why the fishing industry is not treated on an equal footing with other -maritime industries. After all, the strategy states that "some of today's sea uses endanger food security, fishers' livelihoods, and the fishery and seafood sectors", but yet further limits the fishing industry capability to thrive and invest in further social and environmental performance improvements. In order to strengthen our good collaboration and better understand the rationale behind the Commission's strategy, we would be most grateful if you could accept a videoconference meeting at your earliest convenience with our members. We would then be able to briefly present our position on the proposed Biodiversity Strategy and exchange views on how to improve and adjust the goals to the fisheries reality. In this regard, it would be highly appreciated if your Secretariat could get in touch with the Secretariat of Europeche to find a suitable date for both parties and prepare such a meeting in the best possible way. Looking forward to hearing from you soon, we remain, Yours _ sincerely, , ,_ _ _ __ Javier Garat President of Europeche Copy: Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President, European Green Deal Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture