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Long Distance Advisory Council / Consejo Consultivo de Flota de Larga Distancia / Conseil Consultatif de Pêche Lointaine

LDAC

The Long Distance Fleet Advisory Council (LDAC) is an EU fisheries stakeholder-led body recognised in the CFP Regulation (UE) No 1380/2013 as an organization aiming a European Interest.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Stijn Billiet (Head of Unit Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and MEDAC and

13 Oct 2025 · Preparation for the 29th Regular Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT

Response to An EU strategy for fisheries external action

15 Sept 2025

The LDAC wishes to submit its preliminary response to the EU strategy for fisheries external action within the deadline assigned. The LDAC will continue working in providing feedback to the European Commission teams through the consultation process with the view of providing detailed, technical, evidence-based advice containing a number of detailed recommendations to inform the future EC Communication to make this strategy operational from 2026. As a preamble, the LDAC supports this initiative and finds it very important for integrating aspects of the External Dimension of the CFP in the broader context of an EU Ocean Pact aimed at developing an ambitious strategy to improve the EU ocean diplomacy and gain influence in the field of International Ocean Governance. The definition of this strategy provides a unique opportunity to develop a holistic approach strengthening synergies between EU policies, in particular the Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) and the different elements of the international dimension of the CFP, namely RFMOs, new generation of SFPAs, fight against IUU fishing and other international commitments on environmental and social sustainability including import of fishing products from third countries into the EU market. Improving ocean diplomacy, both through hard and soft channels, does not only help to provide legal certainty and economic viability to the EU operatorss, but also strengthens the contribution of EU external fisheries action to sustainable development in partner countries, including the food security and resilience of small-scale fishing communities. It also helps to promote a more integrated approach of the EU fisheries external policy with others such as EU cooperation for development, trade, or labour. This is important also for other maritime activities as reflected in the EU Ocean Pact. The EU should reinforce and enhance its scientific capacity and research through adequate funds and investments. The EU fishing stakeholders, including fishing companies, are willing to help with their own funding under CMO Regulation and voluntary/pilot science-industry partnerships. Collection, analysis and publication of data is essential for long term use of the ocean and healthy stocks. The emphasis of this initiative in achieving a fairer international level playing field is welcome and will be essential for the EU to meet its ambitions in the fields of fisheries and, to a greater extent, ocean governance. The EUs ambitions in these areas reflect its important responsibilities as a major fisheries and ocean player and its credibility in putting forward international commitments particularly in delivering the United Nations 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More specific recommendations on the elements of the strategy (i.e. Funding, RFMOs, SFPAs, Climate Change, UN BBNJ Treaty, trade and sustainability of seafood value chain, fight against IUU fishing and fisheries control rules), can be found in our written response attached that has been validated by the Bureau of the LDAC (Chairs and Vice Chairs of the GA/ExCom and Working Groups).
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Meeting with Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Jul 2022 · SFPA

Meeting with Caroline Roose (Member of the European Parliament) and Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements

16 Jun 2022 · Retraite PECH Verts/ALE - Accords de Pêche et Organisations Régionales de Gestion des Pêche

Meeting with Charlina Vitcheva (Director-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and MEDAC and

19 Jan 2022 · Inter-Advisory Councils meeting - opening statement

Response to Amendment to the delegated act on the functioning of the Advisory Councils under the Common Fisheries Policy

10 Sept 2021

We would like to express our gratitude to DG MARE for the open, inclusive and transparent process to formulate proposals for improving the functioning of the Advisory Councils. We consider this is a timely consultation to inform the revision of the CFP and to cater for developments in recent years, namely the creation of new ACs and the evolution of working practices from existing ones. The LDAC agrees that there is an objective need to update and amend the Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2015/242 modified by the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/157, laying down detailed rules on the functioning of the Advisory Councils under the Common Fisheries Policy. In terms of process, the LDAC has been actively involved thorough 2020 working with our DG MARE coordinators in the shaping of the proposals via informal consultations and exchange of views during the Inter-AC coordination meetings held on 18 January and 5 May 2021. Our Chair and Vice Chair also provided oral feedback during the last Inter AC meeting on July 15 2021. The present response is a summary of our key statements and issues raised by our membership on the different legal elements presented, namely: (1) improve the balance between sector organisations and other interest groups (OIGs) in chairing positions; (2) specify the criteria for the classification of the members into the two new categories of stakeholders; (3) strengthen the provisions for appropriate representation of OIGs; (4) detail working methods to ensure compliance with CFP objectives, transparency and respect of all opinions; and (5) introduce a requirement for external and independent performance reviews. Regarding the way forward, the LDAC appreciates the extension of the deadline for the public consultation until the 10 of September and hope that our input contributes to fine tune the content of the delegated act in the last quarter of the year to be submitted for scrutiny for EP and Council, with the view of being adopted at the end of 2021/ early 2022.
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Meeting with Charlina Vitcheva (Director-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and MEDAC and

5 May 2021 · Inter-Advisory Councils meeting - discussion on key policy developments and functioning of the Advisory Councils

Meeting with Charlina Vitcheva (Director-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and Association of National Organisations of Fishing Enterprises in the European Union and

15 Apr 2021 · Arctic cod fisheries

Response to Evaluation of SFPAs

25 Feb 2021

The LDAC welcomes this initiative taken by DG MARE in carrying out a retrospective evaluation of the SFPAs and is supportive of the roadmap as presented. The LDAC is willing to provide specific advice in the context of the review of the terms of reference for carrying out ex ante and ex post evaluations of the SFPAs. The ex-ante and ex-post evaluations have seen considerable improvements in the course of the last ten years. SFPAs evaluations are now made publicly available as soon as they are finalized, and include the views of a large number of stakeholders, both in the EU and in the third country. This contributes to make SFPAs the most transparent bilateral fishing agreements in the world. However, there are still areas to improve on how to strengthen both the evaluation process and the content of the evaluations in areas such as governance framework, use of sectoral support, impacts on the ecosystem including by-catch, market and consumer issues or social aspects (including role of women in fisheries). The LDAC has addressed already some of these aspects and provided detailed recommendations to make this exercise more efficient and transparent. They can be found in a recent advice submitted in November 2020 (attached). The LDAC reiterates its commitment to inform the Commission on this process and are at your disposal for any future targeted consultations or questionnaires addressed to stakeholders in the remainder of 2021.
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Meeting with Charlina Vitcheva (Director-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and MEDAC and

18 Jan 2021 · Joint inter-Advisory Councils meeting - discussion on key policy developments and priorities

Meeting with Virginijus Sinkevičius (Commissioner) and

17 Feb 2020 · Role of the EU in the International Ocean Governance

Response to Fisheries Control System

27 Oct 2017

This is the LDAC contribution related to the EU public consultation on an impact assessment to an EC Proposal for Regulation establishing a Union Control System for ensuring compliance with the rules of the CFP, amending Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. It is neither intended to address all the questions nor decide on a specific policy option but mainly to address the following aspiration included in the inception impact assessment: "Align EFCA’s mission and tasks with recent developments in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), notably the landing obligation, regionalisation, measures to combat IUU fishing and the external dimension of the CFP as well as with any future revision of the Control Regulation". As a result, this advice asks the Commission and Member States to give an increased mandate to EFCA in their involvement in the control aspects of the implementation of the International Dimension of the CFP. French and Spanish versions are also available under the publications section of the LDAC website: www.ldac.eu SUMMARY OR RECOMMENDATIONS: The LDAC would like to see an increase of EFCA´s role and a wider mandate given by the European Commission in their work and operations related to the international dimension of control activities, namely operational campaigns (SCIPs/JDPs) for RFMOs and focused on fight against IUU fishing, capacity building and training activities for third country inspectors and control authorities as well as mission in site in third countries with SFPAs. This could be particularly useful in the context of implementation of FAO PSMA. Core elements of the external dimension of the CFP, such as dialogue held by the EU with third countries in relation to SFPAs or fight against IUU fishing, as well as participation of EU in RFMOs, should be coherent and compatible with the EU Cooperation for Development Policy. The LDAC recommends that the DG MARE of the European Commission provide to EFCA an adequate mandate to channel this closer cooperation with DG DEVCO, being a good example its participation and involvement in PESCAO project to improve regional fisheries governance and fight IUU fishing in West Africa. The LDAC understands that one of the main constraints for a more prominent role of EFCA in the international dimension is the lack of human and financial resources that could also be addressed by participating in such programmes. In this regard, the increased tasks and budget attributed as a result of the creation of the European Coastguard Force should be of assistance, together with the increasing participation in EU funded projects related to improving regional fisheries governance. The LDAC would like to support an amendment of the EFCA´s founding regulation to ensure that the provisions on the international dimension are fully incorporated into its activities and follow the recommendations of the report of the 5-year evaluation of its performance, endorsed by the Administrative Board. For any revision of current EU legislation in force, the European Commission needs to ensure that it adheres to the “Better Regulation” Principles stating that decision-making is open and transparent; and that citizens and stakeholders can contribute throughout the policy and decision‑making process. This is especially relevant for the Fisheries Control Regulation, as it is one of the three key pillars of European fisheries control system together with the EU regulations to prevent, deter and eliminate fight IUU fishing; and on the sustainable management of external fishing fleet. The members of the LDAC therefore expect that the European Commission holds systematically a fully-fledged public consultation amongst stakeholders as this is a mandatory requirement in EU legislation.
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Meeting with Karmenu Vella (Commissioner)

10 Nov 2015 · IUU fishing