“The question is, why do EU finance ministers under the lead of the Belgian Presidency seem unable to make the decision to move away from fossil fuel subsidies towards other types of tax benefits, or other subsidies that would incentivise the decarbonization process of the fisheries or maritime transport sectors, and would lead to a much-needed carbon-free EU economy?”
A new report shows that by cutting fuel subsidies, the EU could have instead generated between €653 million and €1.4 billion in annual revenue, and used it to pay the salaries of twenty thousand fishers or fund over six thousand energy reduction & decarbonisation projects.
Brussels, 21 February 2023:- While the European Commission has just published the EU Action Plan: Energy transition of EU fisheries and aquaculture, NGOs criticised its
“For the EU this means fuel tax subsidies that perpetuate the most polluting and ocean-destructive fishing fleets must be ceased immediately, and a rapid transition to low-impact, low-carbon fishing must be supported instead.”
NGOs are calling for a rigorous plan to decarbonise the fishing sector and for the EU to stick to its commitments under the Green Deal, ahead of a meeting between AGRIFISH and the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius on March 21, in response to an emerging crisis in the EU fishing industry over increasing fuel prices.
The EU fishing fleet receives a tax break of between €759 million and €1.5 billion from fuel tax subsidies each year, as well as producing nearly 7.3 million tons of CO2 just from burning fuel, according to a report published today by the Our Fish campaign.
ClientEarth lawyer Flaminia Tacconi said: “This revision risks maintaining the status quo in sectors like fisheries, with only very low taxation for fishing vessel fuel in EU waters and no taxation at all on fuel for vessels operating beyond EU waters. The fishing industry, and in particular the large-scale vessels that are so destructive for the ocean, must be part of the global effort to combat climate change – starting with bearing the true cost of its fuel.”
Why does the fishing industry get a free pass when everyone else has to pay the true price of carbon pollution and environmental destruction?
“Getting rid of fossil fuel subsidies – like tax exemptions on kerosene for planes or diesel for fishing vessels – is a crucial step towards a decarbonised Europe, one of the main objectives of the EU Green Deal,” Flaminia Tacconi, fisheries lawyer at ClientEarth.
“By calling for the elimination of all harmful subsidies, the European Parliament is taking the lead in EU’s fight against climate change”, said Flaminia Tacconi, fisheries lawyer at ClientEarth.
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