The first day of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting ended with an agreement between ministers on fishing opportunities for 2013 for certain fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. This agreement lays down for 2013 the maximum quantities of fish from specific stocks that can be caught in the Baltic Sea (total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas), as well as the fishing effort limits for Baltic cod stocks.

The Council reached a political agreement on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for next year. The agreement proposes the maximum quantities of fish from specific stocks that can be caught in the Baltic Sea (total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas), as well as the fishing effort limits for Baltic cod stocks. The European Commission welcomed the agreement, and Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki highlighted that the Baltic Member States showed a clear commitment to keep to the objective of achieving fisheries at Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) levels by 2015 for almost all stock. Recently, the Commission proposed sightly increase in deep-sea fishing opportunities 2013-2014 too.

The total allowable catch (TAC) for the western cod stock has been adopted lower than initially proposed by the Commission in order to achieve sustainable levels, known as Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) sooner than forecast in the management plan. The proposed measures have been established taking into account available scientific advice and, in particular, the reports drawn up by the International Council for the exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF).

Ministers also held several orientation debates within the framework of the common agricultural policy (CAP) reform. The discussions focused on specific issues in the proposal for a regulation establishing rules for direct payments to farmers within the framework of the reform of the CAP (direct payments regulation), and in the proposal for a regulation establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (Single CMO regulation).