Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

Changedon the multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea and ways forwardforward(2024/2127(INI))

Removed(2024/2127(INI))

The European Parliament,

Added– having regard to Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), Articles 4, 43(3) and 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and Article 37 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (CFP),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2016 establishing a multiannual plan for the stocks of cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 (Baltic MAP Regulation),

Added– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2020/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1139 as regards fishing capacity reduction in the Baltic Sea, and Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 as regards permanent cessation of fishing activities for fleets fishing for Eastern Baltic cod, Western Baltic cod and Western Baltic herring,

▸4 unchanged paragraphs

– having regard to Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive),

– having regard to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora,

– having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2115/77 of 27 September 1977 prohibiting the direct fishing and landing of herring for industrial purposes other than human consumption,

– having regard to Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds,

Added– having regard to its resolution of 27 April 2021 on chemical residues in the Baltic Sea, based on Petitions Nos 1328/2019 and 0406/2020 ,

Added– having regard to its resolution of 18 January 2024 on the EU Action Plan: protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries,

Added– having regard to its resolution of 4 December 2008 on the adoption of a European Cormorant Management Plan to minimise the increasing impact of cormorants on fish stocks, fishing and aquaculture,

Added– having regard to its resolution of 14 November 2024 on EU actions against the Russian shadow fleets and ensuring a full enforcement of sanctions against Russia (2024/2885(RSP)),

– having regard to the EU’s biodiversity strategy for 2030, set out in the Commission communication of 20 May 2020 entitled ‘EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 – Bringing nature back into our lives’ (COM(2020)0380),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 5 June 2025 entitled ‘The European Ocean Pact’ (COM(2025)0281),

Added– having regard to the Commission communication of 21 February 2023 entitled ‘EU Action Plan: Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries’ (COM(2023)0102),

Added– having regard to the Commission communication of 6 June 2025 entitled ‘Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2026’ (COM(2025)0296),

Added– having regard to the Commission communication of 29 January 2025 entitled ‘A Competitiveness Compass for the EU’ (COM(2025)0030),

– having regard to the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area of 1992 (the Helsinki Convention), which entered into force on 17 January 2000, and to the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, also known as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM),

Removed– having regard to the background analysis requested by the Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries entitled ‘The multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea – A change in management needed’, published by its Directorate-General for Cohesion, Agriculture and Social Policies in August 2025,

Added– having regard to the Baltic Sea Action Plan, and to the HELCOM findings on sea-dumped chemical munitions,

Added– having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 11 January 2024 in the case C-330/22 , Friends of the Irish Environment CLG v Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland,

Added– having regard to the background analysis requested by Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries entitled ‘The multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea – A change in management needed’, published by its Directorate-General for Cohesion, Agriculture and Social Policies in August 2025,

– having regard to the study of September 2025 by the European Parliamentary Research Service entitled ‘Evaluation of the Baltic Sea Multiannual Plan Regulation – European Implementation Assessment’,

– having regard to the report of 29 September 2025 by the European Environment Agency entitled ‘Europe’s environment and climate: knowledge for resilience, prosperity and sustainability’,

– having regard to the report of 31 October 2023 by HELCOM entitled ‘State of the Baltic Sea 2023 – Third HELCOM holistic assessment 2016-2021’,

Added– having regard to the commitments of states under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely SDGs 3, 6 and 14,

– having regard to the report of 26 November 2024 by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) entitled ‘Baltic Sea ecoregion – Ecosystem Overview’, ICES Advice 2024, Section 7.1,

Changed– having regard to the report of 2022 report by ICES entitled ‘Workshop on ICES reference points (WKREF1)’, ICES Scientific Reports. 4:2. 70 pp.,

Changed– having regard to the report of 2022 report by ICES entitled ‘Workshop on ICES reference points (WKREF2)’, ICES Scientific Reports. 4:68. 96 pp.,

Changed– having regard to the report of 2023 report by ICES entitled ‘Workshop on guidelines and methods for the design and evaluation of rebuilding plans for category 1-2 stocks (WKREBUILD2)’, ICES Scientific Reports. 5:112. 79 pp.,

Changed– having regard to the report of November 20242025 by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre entitled ‘Scientific Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – The 20242025 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet (STECF-24-03(STECF-25-03 & STECF-24-07)’,STECF-25-07)’,

– having regard to the report of September 2019 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change entitled ‘Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate’,

– having regard to the report of September 2025 by the Copernicus Marine Service entitled ‘9th edition of the Copernicus Ocean State Report’,

– having regard to the report of 24 September 2025 by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research entitled ‘Planetary Health Check 2025: A Scientific Assessment of the State of the Planet’,

Added– having regard to the 2016 UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report entitled ‘Options for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA) in Coastal Environments: A Guide for environmental managers and planners’,

Added– having regard to Resolution 1612 (2008) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on chemical munitions buried in the Baltic Sea, and to the accompanying report of 28 April 2008,

– having regard to the joint statement by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and ICES of 18 September 2025 entitled ‘Adaptive science and coordinated governance for cross-sector action towards Baltic Sea recovery’,

Changed– having regard to the report of 28 April 2025 by theits Committee on Fisheries entitled ‘Working document on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/1139 (“Baltic MAP”)’,

Added– having regard to the Framework for a European Management Plan for the Great Cormorant of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Advisory Commission of April 2025,

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

Changed– having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries (A100000/2025),(A10-0121/2026),

Change 1

ChangedA. whereas the EU’s multi-annualmultiannual plan for Baltic Sea fisheries (Baltic MAP Regulation)Regulation), in a context of increasing environmental pressures on the Baltic Sea ecosystem, has not reacheddelivered on its objectivesoverarching ecological and socio-economic objectives; whereas it has not ledachieved tothe populationsrestoration ofand harvestedmaintenance speciesof beingpopulations restoredof andharvested maintainedspecies above levels which can produce MSY,the ormaximum sustainable yield (MSY), despite its 2020 legal deadline, and has not contributed sufficiently to resolving particularly complex stock situations such as those of the eastern and western Baltic cod stocks, nor has it consistently supported the effective implementation of the ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, leadingor toimplemented manythe disastrousprecautionary approach, resulting in significant socio-economic consequenceschallenges for parts of the fisheries sector;

Change 2

RemovedB. whereas Baltic cod stocks have collapsed and not recovered, despite targeted fisheries having been closed since 2019;

AddedB. whereas in 2023, the ecoregions of the Baltic Sea, Celtic Sea and Greater North Sea reduced the average fishing pressure to below MSY levels, with fishing mortality 54 %, 48 % and 23 % below MSY targets respectively, compared to above-target levels in 2003; whereas the EU Baltic Sea fleets spent 267 000 days in 2022, an 8 % decrease compared to 2021 and the lowest level reached since 2013;

RemovedC. whereas small-scale coastal fisheries represent 92 % of the vessels in the Baltic Sea while only landing 7 % of total weight, but constitute 22 % of the landed value, showing a higher value added in this fleet segment;

AddedC. whereas Baltic cod stocks remain in an extremely poor condition with no forecasted improvement in the short term, despite targeted fisheries having been closed since 2019; whereas ICES estimates that Baltic cod stocks will continue to develop slowly, showing a downward trend compared to previous years, including for reasons of adverse environmental conditions; whereas cod is still being caught as ‘bycatch’;

RemovedD. whereas the gross added value for small-scale fishers has declined drastically since the inception of the Baltic MAP Regulation, according to assessments by the Commission’s Scientific Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, threatening food security and increasing the EU’s dependence on imports;

AddedD. whereas salmon and trout stocks are not covered by the Baltic MAP Regulation; whereas there are important interlinkages between salmon and trout stocks and herring stocks, especially considering food ecosystems; whereas since 2022 ICES has advised stopping all commercial and recreational salmon catches in the main basin due to the existence of mixed fisheries and the fact that salmon are being caught from multiple river stocks, including threatened stocks;

RemovedE. whereas the Baltic Sea suffers from multiple human-induced pressures and long-term degradation, and is especially vulnerable due to its shallow sea basin with genetically unique species that have evolved to live in brackish water with naturally low salinity and oxygen levels;

AddedE. whereas small-scale coastal fisheries represent 92 % of the vessels operating in the Baltic Sea, landing 7 % of total weight but accounting for 22 % of the landed value, thus providing significant economic and social benefits given the above-average value added of this fleet segment; whereas fisheries rely heavily on the availability of a large fish biomass in line with the CFP and sustainably managed fish stocks, which are critical for the economic viability of the sector;

RemovedF. whereas while upstream pressures such as nutrient loading and polluting legacy chemicals such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyl have decreased over time, fisheries have remained a strong stressor on key fish stocks;

AddedF. whereas the Baltic small-scale coastal fishing fleet has access to smaller fishing quotas compared to larger operators, leading to the marginalisation of the small-scale segments and their fishing businesses;

RemovedG. whereas the impacts of seawater warming driven by global climate change are particularly fast-acting in the Baltic Sea, and are expected to lead to further far-reaching and mostly unknown consequences, including uncertainty on the future reproductive capacity of fish populations;

AddedG. whereas according to Article 17 CFP ‘when allocating fishing opportunities available to them … Member States shall use transparent and objective criteria including those of an environmental, social and economic nature’;

RemovedH. whereas Member States continue to decide on dangerously high quotas for fish stocks that are at, or close to, record low biomass levels, ignoring the levels required by the Baltic MAP Regulation and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), which also require balanced food webs and stocks with a healthy size and age distribution;

AddedH. whereas the gross added value for small-scale fishers in the Baltic Sea region has declined drastically since the inception of the Baltic MAP Regulation, according to assessments by the Commission’s Scientific Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), threatening food security and increasing the EU’s dependence on imports; whereas the loss of EU-origin fish supply increases dependence on imports from non-EU countries and weakens market resilience; whereas there has been a continued decline in the number of active fishing vessels in the Baltic Sea;