The Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting of July 2014 took place in Brussels on July 14. The Commission presented its communication on the preparation of setting next years' fish quotas, adopted on 26 June.
The Commission also reported on the state of fish stocks in EU waters. While in the North and West of Europe, overfishing has fallen from 86 per cent of the stocks in 2009 to 41 per cent in 2014, there are still serious problems of overfishing in the Mediterranean Sea with 96 per cent or more of the Mediterranean bottom-living fish being overfished.
The annual report marks the beginning of a wide consultation exercise and EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki looks forward to hearing the input and views from ministers, which will then be taken into account in the preparation of the Commission's forthcoming proposals for fishing opportunities for 2015.
In line with the reformed Common Fisheries Policy, the Commission's proposals are based on the objective of achieving Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) fishing by 2015, multiannual plans, as well as any impact from the landing obligation.
The proposals will be discussed during Councils in the autumn - political agreement is expected for the Baltic Sea (October), deep-sea (November), Black Sea and Atlantic/North Sea (December).
