Agriculture and Fisheries Council, 22/10/2015 - Main results
Main results
Fisheries
Ministers reached a political agreement on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea which fixed for 2016 the maximum quantities of fish which can be caught for the commercially most important stocks in the Baltic Sea. The quantities of fish from specific stocks that can be caught take into account available scientific advice and provisions introduced by the recently reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), such as the landing obligation and maximum sustainable yield (MSY).
The Council was also briefed on EU-Norway annual consultations in the framework of their bilateral fisheries agreement. The main concerns expressed by member states covered the management arrangements for the jointly-managed fish stocks and the exchange of reciprocal fishing possibilities in EU and Norwegian waters.
Agriculture
Ministers held an exchange of views on the contribution of agriculture to climate change mitigation. This debate was organised in the light of the adoption of the 2030 EU climate and energy package which set substantial cuts for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for the year 2030. It comes also on the eve of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) in Paris beginning in November this year.
They agreed that although agriculture is a source of GHG it also participates directly or indirectly in the reduction of emissions. In this regard, the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in particular the greening of the direct payments is an important tool to consider.
Presidency note 'Towards climate-smart agriculture'