The Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries is a member of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

. The current Commissioner is Virginijus Sinkevičius, who also serves as EU Commissioner for the Environment.

Environment

The European Union has made a number of environmental moves, partially in regard to climate change. Most notably it signed the

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...

in 1998, set up its Emission Trading Scheme in 2005 and is currently agreeing to unilaterally cut its net emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990s levels. (See: Energy policy of the European Union) Other policies include

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

, a widespread and successful network of nature conservation sites, the

Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) is a European Union regulation dating from 18 December 2006. REACH addresses the production and use of chemical substances, and their potential impacts on both human he ...

(REACH) directive requiring safety testing on widely used chemicals, and the

Water Framework Directive The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC is an EU directive which commits European Union member states to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies (including marine waters up to one nautical mile from shore) by 2015. ...

ensuring water quality reaches higher standards.

Fisheries

The portfolio includes policies such as the

Common Fisheries Policy The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions. I ...

, which is largely a competence of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

rather than the members. The Union has 66,000 km of

coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

and the largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, covering 25 million km². They also participate in meetings of the

Agriculture and Fisheries Council The Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) is one of the configurations of the Council of the European Union and is composed of the agriculture and fisheries ministers of the 27 European Union member states. Its competencies include the Comm ...

(Agrifish) configuration of the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

Former commissioners

Karmenu Vella

2014-2019 the Commissioner was

Karmenu Vella Karmenu Vella is a Maltese politician and former member of the European Commission, in charge of Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries between 2014 and 2019. He has been one of the longest serving Maltese Parliamentarian with the Maltese ...

of Malta. In his hearing before the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Fisheries, and in his introductory statement to the European Parliament, Vella listed as his priorities Green Growth, protection of

natural capital Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...

, and safeguarding the Union's citizens from environment related pressures and risks to health.

Stavros Dimas

During his hearing with the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Stavros Dimas Stavros Dimas ( el, Σταύρος Δήμας, ; born 30 April 1941) is a Greek politician who was European Commissioner for the Environment from 2004 to 2009. From November 2011 to May 2012, he served in the government of Greece as Minister for ...

announced four main priorities for his term in office:

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

and

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

; Highlighting the importance of the Kyoto Protocol, the Natura 2000 project, the REACH directive, and the need to better enforce existing EU environmental legislation. On Dimas' website he lists the following key policy areas;

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

Chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

Civil Protection Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

and Environmental Accidents,

Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

Environmental Technologies Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as '' clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic devi ...

, Health, International Issues and Enlargement,

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

and

Biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

Soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

Sustainable Development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

Urban Environment An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

Waste Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste prod ...

and

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

. At the UN's

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

talks on climate change in December 2004 he attempted to negotiate mandatory emissions reductions to follow the expiration of Kyoto in 2012. This met with opposition from the US, whose representatives refused to discuss it. Dimas oversaw the introduction of the EU's

emissions trading Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission t ...

scheme that took effect on 1 January 2005, despite emissions reduction plans from Poland, Italy, the Czech Republic and Greece not having been approved on time. He also sought to include companies operating aircraft under the emissions trading regime. In February 2007 the Commissioner put forward his plans to increase fuel efficiency standards of cars so that emissions are no more than 130g of CO₂ per km, down from 162g/km in 2005. This caused anger from the European car industry which was stoked by the Commissioner requesting a Japanese car, a

Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door Sedan (automobile), sedan, it has been produced only as ...

, instead of a European make due to the Toyota's better environmental standards

In response to the refusal of countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, such as the United States and Australia (the latter of which exchanged viewpoints with the EU on the matter), the EU has been looking to tax products imported from those countries not taking low-carbon policies on board (

Border Tax Adjustments Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

). (Australia has since ratified the Kyoto Protocol, at the Bali COP in December 2007).

Carlo Ripa di Meana

Carlo Ripa di Meana Carlo Ripa di Meana (15 August 1929 – 2 March 2018) was an Italian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament, a European Commissioner with portfolio for the environment and was environment minister of Italy. He was the leader of t ...

was appointed Environment Commissioner in 1990 which coincided with increased public interest and awareness in environmental issues. Ripa di Meana's appointment took place at the same time as that of a new Directorate-General, Brinkhorst. They both tried to change the image of DG XI (now DG Environment) in charge of environmental issues and make it a more mainstream actor. According to Schön-Quinlivan the then president of the commission, Jacques Delors, did not appreciate Ripa di Meana's political style and their relationship became strained. Ripa di Meana was eventually replaced by Karel Van Miert for a period of six months until a full-time replacement could be found. Yet Van Miert supported what had been done before him and described environmental policy as 'one of our most successful policies, and one of the best understood'.

Joe Borg

Commissioner Borg was approved by the

in 2004 and served until 2010. His two main priorities were "setting the European Union on the path towards a European Maritime Policy" and "securing the ecological, economic and

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

sustainability of the European fishing and

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

industry" On 7 June 2006 the

published a

green paper In the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth countries, Hong Kong, the United States and the European Union, a green paper is a tentative government report and consultation document of policy proposals for debate and discussion. A green paper represen ...

on a future Maritime Policy and opened a consultation that ended in June 2007 . The green paper addressed a number of issues such as sustainable development, protection of the environment, skills and employment, technology and resources, coastal safety and tourism, financial support and heritage. On 10 October 2007 the European Commission presented its vision for an integrated maritime policy with a detailed action plan The Commission came under fire in May 2007 for not penalising French fishermen for

over-fishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in the ...

the threatened

bluefin tuna Bluefin tuna is a common name used to refer to several species of tuna of the genus ''Thunnus ''Thunnus'' is a genus of ocean-dwelling, ray-finned bony fish from the mackerel family, Scombridae. More specifically, ''Thunnus'' is one of five ...

by 65% while backing penalties on Irish fishermen for over-fishing mackerelFishermen citicise EU over-fishing decision
rte.it

List of commissioners

Environment

Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

(or Fisheries and Maritime Affairs)

Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

External links

Commissioner's Website

Eurostat – Statistics Explained – all articles on environment

Celebrating the Environmental Union (Stavros Dimas)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:European Commissioner For Maritime Affairs And Fisheries Maritime affairs and Fisheries European Union fishing regulations

Environment

Fisheries

Former commissioners

Karmenu Vella

Stavros Dimas

Carlo Ripa di Meana

Joe Borg

List of commissioners

Environment

Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

See also

Environment

Fisheries

External links

References