We must have control over the fish, do not give it to the EU
The fisheries are the very backbone of many coastal communities in Finnmark. It is our foremost natural resource, our history and our future. Nevertheless, we see a political development where more and more of the management of our resources is threatened by supranational management and market thinking. Right and left open the door to EU membership and weakened national control. On the contrary, the Center Party says: The fish is ours – and it will benefit the coast and the people.
EU – no guarantor of the coastal industry
Right and Left advocate that Norway join the EU. It is a dramatic political choice, especially for us living on the coast. In the EU, the principle of equal treatment applies. This means that Norwegian resources in the sea are not necessarily reserved for Norwegian fishermen, which means that the right to set requirements for further processing and activity in Finnmark can be set aside.
The EU has previously objected to national requirements for processing fish in the country of origin, and there is no guarantee that Finnmark in an EU Norway will have the opportunity to demand that the fish be processed here. On the contrary – it can be impossible. For the EU, free flow of goods, services and capital is more important than living coastal communities.
Natural resources should be owned and managed by the people
The Center Party stands for a policy where national natural resources should be under national control. Fish is the property of the people. It is the community’s resource – not an item in the market that anyone can get out and export raw.
We will impose stricter requirements for landing, processing and local value creation. We want to strengthen the duty system and ensure that the fish create jobs where it is fished. There is no nature law that the raw material should disappear from the country and the workplaces follow.
The Center Party says no to Norwegian EU membership because we see what kind of override is included. We have seen it in energy policy, in agriculture – and we know what awaits the fisheries. We will neither give away our resources nor let market liberal EU directives decide how we manage our fjords, our fish and our future basis of life.
A resource in charge
Fish is not just a resource – it is a responsibility. A responsibility to manage the sea sustainably, a responsibility for sharing the values fair, and a responsibility to ensure that the next generation in Finnmark can also live by the sea. This responsibility cannot be outsourced. It must be here – in Norway, in the coastal municipalities, in the county council and in the Storting.
The Center Party takes this responsibility. We stand up for our fishing resources, for the workplaces in the industry and for the future of the coastal communities in Finnmark. We say no to the EU, no to override and no to market management of our sea.
Because the fish is ours.
Geir Iversen
Center Party
