FDBusiness.com

The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) which centralises and coordinates EU member states’ fisheries inspections, will be empowered to use the data provided by its ship reporting systems to detect vessels carrying migrants under updated rules approved by Parliament’s Fisheries Committee on Tuesday. It will also be able to and conduct new types of operations to disrupt people smuggling routes.

Under the updated regulation, which the Fisheries Committee approved by 14 votes to ,with 4 abstentions, the EFCA will cooperate with the future European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency to support national authorities doing coastguard tasks at national and EU levels, and where appropriate at international level too. The proposed law aims to improve synergies between the agencies’ services.

“Coordinating all EU coastguard functions is a necessity in the current migration context. Europe must be effective in preventing disasters at sea. The tools and means for action are national, but the coordination can only be European,” said Fisheries Committee chair and rapporteur, Alain Cadec.