The principle of coherence was introduced by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. It introduced an obligation on the EC to consider the impact of all its policies (including fisheries) on the stated objectives of its development policy.
This notion has been mentionned several times during the parliamentary hearing on Fisheries Partnership Agreement, on November 17 in Brussels. We feel it is necessary to remind what is meant by policy coherence for development and how it is currently being applied in fisheries.