The hearing is over, the votes are counted, and we now know that Costas Kadis will be the new European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans until 2029.
Commissioner-elect Kadis clearly knows his brief, and gave some indications that he is serious about addressing some of the big problems the ocean faces.
One example is article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy, with the Commissioner-elect expressing his readiness to take bold action to set fishing quotas with social and environmental criteria in mind.
The idea of fair and eco-friendly fishing allocations is not just a theoretical concept; it’s a practical solution we can build on right now. Find out more in our recent report: https://lnkd.in/dhpK5cVs.
However, this is not just about numbers and quotas — it’s about protecting the ocean. The Commissioner-elect stayed close to this new Commission’s toplines — productivity, competitiveness, internal market — but his job title includes an important word that played second fiddle to ‘fisheries’.
That word is ‘oceans’, and it needs more than lip service.
People and the planet are depending on the EU to not just serve industry interests, but to protect marine ecosystems from the continued harm caused by human activities.
The biggest opportunity to nurse the ocean back to health is the upcoming EU Ocean Pact. Questions from MEPs including Christophe Clergeau and Thomas Bajada urged the Commissioner-elect to elaborate beyond hollow words such as ‘framework’ and ‘policy coherence’. He dismissed the idea of new legislation, instead stating that the Pact will improve the implementation of existing policies.
But that is not enough.
We need concrete action and binding measures to deliver nature-positive outcomes. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) must be fully realised, with a clear emphasis on improving their environmental effectiveness and ensuring they support the recovery of marine biodiversity.
We also need new legislation on a range of areas, from trade of aquatic food, to effective management of marine protected areas, and unintentional microplastics pollution. We recently joined forces with five other ‘blue’ NGOs to prepare the ‘Blue Manifesto’, a roadmap to a healthy ocean in 2030, and this should form the backbone of any Ocean Pact, Deal or Framework coming from the Commission: https://lnkd.in/daZX93FD.
This is a defining moment. The triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution is real, and it requires urgent action. We can no longer afford to prioritise short-term economic gains over the long-term health of the ocean.
The question is: will Commissioner-elect Kadis and others in power take bold steps to implement policies that align with the science and put the health of the ocean, people and the planet first?
