Virginijus SINKEVICIUS, Commissioner-designate for Environment and Oceans, is heard by the Committee on Fisheries (PECH) and the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) of the European Parliament in Brussels to test his general competences, European commitment and specific expertise related to his portfolio. Statements by Pierre KARLESKIND (RE, FR), Grace O'SULLIVAN (Greens/EFA, IE), Manuel BOMPARD (GUE/NGL, FR) and Virginijus SINKEVICIUS, Commissioner-designate for Environment and Oceans.

Brussels

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Committee on Fisheries

hearing of Commissioners

BOMPARD, Manuel (The Left, FR)

KARLESKIND, Pierre (Renew, FR)

2019 Commissioners' hearings (T)

O'SULLIVAN, Grace (Greens/EFA, IE)

SINKEVIČIUS, Virginijus (Greens/EFA, LT)

hearing of Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS 2019 (T)

Hearing of Virginijus SINKEVICIUS, Commissioner-designate, Environment and Oceans: extracts from the hearing (2/2)

SOUNDBITE (French), Pierre KARLESKIND (RE, FR), Do you think of the current policy based on fishing and pressure on the resources is up to the task of getting a sustainability by 2030 or are you going to use the width of your portfolio to tackle all of the manifold dimensions to this product and not just the Fish bit.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVICIUS, Commissioner-designate, Environment and Oceans, Indeed , you are right, not only fishing is causing loss biomass , is causing decline of stocks, it&rsquo;s the health of ecosystem. By talking about the biodiversity 2020 strategy I definitely don&rsquo;t mean on the land I mean as well the marine area, seas and oceans. Because healthy seas and healthy oceans it&rsquo;s something which absorbs enormous amount of CO2 which provides food, jobs, even energy now .

SOUNDBITE (English), Grace O&apos;SULLIVAN (Greens/EFA, IE), Improvements have been too little too slow especially given in the Mediterranean Sea basin, staggering 87% of stocks are over faced. The current position of the Council in the Parliament on the IMFF revision might actually increase existing overcapacity in the sector in contradiction with the stated aims of the EU common fisheries policy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVICIUS, Commissioner-designate, Environment and Oceans, I agree the IMFF needs to support our goals: common fisheries policy implementation, the commitment to implementing a sustainable development goal full kin, and it is also important to assess that it&rsquo;s envelope is not unlimited and it&rsquo;s a public money.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manuel BOMPARD (GUE/NGL, FR), Dead zones at sea have been multiplied by 10 since 1950 and the oceans have lost 77 billion tons of oxygen. What do you intend to do to drastically reduce our reliance on chemical fertilizers and intensive livestock farming, which are largely responsible.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVICIUS, Commissioner-designate, Environment and Oceans, You are absolutely right oceans are key. And it's key to preserve them healthy. It will be good for environment for a fisherman and women communities, coastal communities, and we know the main reasons, of course it&rsquo;s which has to be tackled. It&rsquo;s overfishing, it&rsquo;s not enough protected areas, it&rsquo;s also pollution, marine litter . We have to also improve for international legal framework so that not only are EU member state would be on board and respecting the rules, but the others as well.