Bluefin tuna

Greens/EFA MEPs Isabella Lövin (Sweden) and Raül Romeva (Spain) have written to Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to request the Commission's support for a proposal to list bluefin tuna on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The Commission position on this issue is expected to be resolved on Wednesday, 9 September, the same day that Mr. Barroso will personally present his programme for a new term as Commission President to the Greens/EFA Group.

The Green MEPs remind Mr Barroso of the EU's direct responsibility in the precarious situation of bluefin tuna and of his recent programme pledge to "put fisheries on a sustainable footing". "Anything less than a moratorium is no longer sufficient", they conclude.