The Commission proposed a stricter system of rules for deep-sea fishing in the north-east Atlantic in July 2012. Licences for vessels that use certain types of deep-sea fishing equipment (bottom trawls and bottom-set gillnets) would be phased out and banned under this European Commission proposal from two years after the regulation comes into force.
After lengthy debate, the rapporteur proposed that a ban only applies in areas with sponges, coral and other vulnerable marine ecosystems which are to be listed by the European Commission. MEPs also agreed on a review clause, asking the Commission to evaluate after four years the impact of the special fishing gear used for deep-sea fishing on vulnerable deep-sea species and marine ecosystems, with the possibility of proposing a general phase-out of bottom trawling thereafter.