Debates

Tuesday, 11 December 2007 - Strasbourg

Protection of the Marine Environment

Ian Hudghton (Verts/ALE ) - I was able to support the compromise package reached across this house on the Lienemann report on the marine environment. It is essential for future policy in this area that a holistic and balanced approach is taken. The Common Fisheries Policy perhaps serves as a template for how not to nurture the marine environment. Central control from Brussels is no way to manage the seas and oceans of Europe and the wider world. I therefore recognise that the EU has a valuable role to play in marine environmental policy but also believe that the needs and views of individual maritime communities must be factored into the equation.