Common interests

The Ministers confirmed the strategic character of the Polish-Norwegian relations in many fields and the importance of cooperation, also in the area of food security. They stressed the need to ensure stable trade between them and to further develop their cooperation in this scope. They declared their readiness to engage in a further intensive dialogue and to develop the indisputable potential for cooperation between the two countries.

The position of Poland

Undersecretary of State Krzysztof Ciecióra stressed that Norway was a historical partner of Polish importers and processors of fishery products and that the Polish fish processing sector was one of the most modern in Europe and was the largest recipient of Norwegian of raw fish exported to the EU.

Deputy Minister Krzysztof Ciecióra underlined that the European Commission had the competence to negotiate a new package of EU agreements with Norway. He assured, however, that Poland was keen to appropriately safeguard the interests of both sides in the negotiations on the package of agreements and to ensure a pragmatic and diplomatic resolution of problems which emerged in the discussion.

The issues of great importance for Poland include the respect for our fishing opportunities in the waters of the Barents Sea and Svalbard, which had for many years been crucial for the implementation of the fishing activity.

Negotiations on new agreements

The issues related to the negotiations on a new package of EU agreements with Norway, among others, the trade and fisheries agreements, fall within the exclusive competence of the EC, but, in order to reach an agreement which would be satisfactory for both sides, the positions of the EU and Norway need to be aligned. Poland hopes that a compromise can be reached soon, since this is in the interest of the Polish fisheries sector.

Trade in fish products with Norway

Poland imports more than 300,000 tonnes of raw fish from Norway annually with a value of almost EUR 2 billion and their trend is growing.

Polish catches in the Baltic Sea and deep seas and fish produced in aquaculture satisfy barely 20% of the demand on the Polish market. The other fish are imported. Norway is the main trade partner in raw fish supplies to Poland. About 50% of the fish imported to Poland comes from this country. The main species are herring and salmon.