COMMISSION DECISION
of 27.3.2026
on the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities for Madeira and the Azores
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC 1 , and in particular Article 22 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)In order to take account of the permanent and structural constraints of the outermost regions as provided for in Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Commission published on 22 November 2018 an amendment to its Guidelines for the examination of State aid to the fishery and aquaculture sector 2 . That amendment was aimed at authorising State aid for the renewal of fishing vessels exclusively in the concerned regions, under strictly defined conditions, including the obligation for Member States to demonstrate a balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities in the corresponding outermost region fleet segment to which the fishing vessel will belong.
(2)On 17 March 2023, the Commission adopted new Guidelines for the fisheries and aquaculture sector (“the 2023 Fisheries Guidelines”), providing procedural clarifications on the assessment of the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities, while maintaining the conditions already strictly defined in the previous guidelines 3 .
(3)In accordance with Article 22(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the Member States are to send to the Commission, by 31 May each year, a report on the balance between the fishing capacity of their fleets and their fishing opportunities. To facilitate a common approach across the Union, that report is to be prepared in accordance with common Guidelines for the analysis of the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities. The Commission adopted such Guidelines in 2014, through Communication COM(2014)545 final, which are applicable to all the fishing fleets of the Union 4 .
(4)On 21 May 2024 the Commission adopted specific Guidelines for the analysis of the balance, for fleet segments consisting of vessels of less than 12 metres in the Outermost Regions (COM(2024) 223 final), providing alternative methods for the calculation of certain indicators to better account for the specificities of the Outermost Regions. The guidelines were applicable for the preparation of the fleet report submitted by 31 May 2024 and 31 May 2025. Portugal applied certain elements of those guidelines in preparing their national report submitted on 29 May 2025.
(5)On 18 December 2025, the Commission adopted a further revision of the Guidelines for the analysis of the balance, for fleet segments consisting of vessels of less than 12 metres in the outermost regions (COM(2025) 798 final). Those Guidelines provide the same framework as those set out in COM(2024) 223 final, and in addition provide for further flexibility on the calculation of the Stocks at Risk (SAR) biological indicator. The Guidelines laid down in COM(2025) 798 final adapt certain elements of the guidelines in COM(2014) 545 final to the structural social and economic situation and compounding factors of the outermost regions in line with Article 349 TFEU, and replace COM (2024) 223 final, under the conditions laid down by Section 3 of that Communication. As set out in Section 3 of the revised Guidelines COM (2025) 798 final, they shall apply for the assessment of the national report submitted by May 2025, if the report already contains assessments or information that allow for a more favourable balance assessment of the respective fleet segment than under the COM (2014) 545 as supplemented by COM(2024) 223 final.
(6)The first stage of the procedure to determine the existence of a balance between fishing capacity and the fishing opportunities of the fleet concerned is laid down in Article 22(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. In accordance with Article 22(4), second subparagraph, that procedure ends with a report prepared by the Commission for the European Parliament and for the Council. To this effect, taking into account the conditions laid down by the Guidelines for the examination of State aid to the fishery and aquaculture sectors 5 and by the decision on the State aid scheme scheme (SA.108886 (2023/N) prolongued by SA. 120732 (2025/N)) 6 the Commission's observations on the national report should be made on the basis of an independent scientific assessment by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), on the conclusions of the Portuguese annual national report for 2024, as regards the fleet segments of the Portuguese outermost regions covered by the above-mentioned decision. In order for State aid to be granted, as approved by that decision, the suspensive condition relating to the demonstration of the balance needs to be fulfilled.
(7)In the framework of the application of these rules, and in particular Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the Commission consulted STECF on the annual national reports prepared by the Member States, including on the annual national report prepared by Portugal.
(8)The STECF first assessed the Portuguese national fleet report for 2024 based on the 2014 guidelines for the analysis of the balance (COM(2014)545 final) as supplemented by the 2024 guidelines for the analysis of the balance (COM(2024) 223 final), specifically for vessels under 12 meters of length in the outermost regions. Their report, STECF 25-12, was published on 2 December 2025.
(9)After the adoption of the revision of the guidelines, COM(2025) 798 final, the STECF reassessed the Portugese national fleet report for 2024 as regards the outermost regions’ fleets on the basis of the updated methodologies set out in COM(2025) 798 final, in line with section 3 of these guidelines.
(10)The findings of the updated STECF Expert Working Group (EWG) 25-12 report were validated by the STECF at its plenary meeting (PLEN 26-01) on 13 March 2026, the conclusions of which will be published at a later stage.
(11)The 2014 guidelines for the analysis of the balance as supplemented by COM(2025) 798 final, stipulate that the biological, economic and technical indicators are the baseline indicators for the assessment of balance of each fleet segment. In the absence of a finding of balance for a single indicator, balance for that segment cannot be demonstrated.
(12)Based on the STECF’s analysis of the Portuguese national report fleet report for the year 2024, submitted to the Commission on 29 May 2025, and in accordance with Article 22(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the Commission considers that the following fleet segments in the Portuguese outermost region of Madeira targeting black scabbardfish are in balance: PRT NAO HOK1012 P2; PRT NAO HOK1218 P2; PRT NAO HOK1824 P2.
