Legal Action for Ecosystem-based Management in Fisheries
Summary
In this first legal action funded with a dedicated BaltCF grant, BaltCF supports Coalition Clean Baltic’s legal action against Council Regulation (EU) 2023/2638. The Agricultural and Fisheries Council of the European Union, against the proposal of the European Commission and against a number of legal acts, has not closed the herring fishery in the Baltic Sea for 2024. Instead, it has ignored that the herring stocks have fallen below all legally defined thresholds and has more or less set fishing quotas as usual.
As an NGO coalition that fulfils the admission criteria for legal action against such decisions, CCB has decided to challenge the regulation. This is based on legal expertise as well as a recent decision of the EU Court of Justice in a similar case. The goal is to set a precedent and clarify that the Council’s decision is illegal, preventing similar decisions in the future.
In January 2024, as a first step CCB filed a “Request for Internal Review” to the Council, which was flatly rejected in April 2024. CCB thus filed a complaint to the General Court of the European Union in July 2024. An oral hearing is scheduled for October 2026, which a verdict expected for 2027.
Project Data
Beneficiary
Coalition Clean BalticBudget
Links
Planned Results
What this legal action is trying to achieve:
Legal clarity about the legality of the 2024 EU fishing quota for herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea.
By extension, clarification of the need for the EU Council to consider legally binding conservation targets of various EU directives.