The EU’s common fisheries policy

KEY POINTS

• Fisheries management aims to enable fishers to maximise their catches without threatening the reproduction of fish stocks (their ‘maximum sustainable yield’). To this end, total allowable catches (or ‘fishing opportunities’) are set for most commercial fish stocks. Fishing levels had to conform to maximum sustainable yield levels for all stocks by 2015, if possible, and no later than 2020, and in some cases 2025.
• The management of fish stocks is based on scientific advice. EU Member States must collect, manage and make available the data needed for scientific advice. This includes biological, environmental and socioeconomic data. Data collection activities are financially supported by the EU.
• By introducing a landing obligation, the CFP Regulation aims to end the wasteful practice of returning unwanted catches to the sea (discarding). The landing obligation was gradually phased in over the 2015–2019 period and is now fully in force, requiring fishers to land all catches of regulated commercial species.
• Multiannual plans set targets for the management of fish stocks.
• Technical measures are a broad set of rules that govern how, where and when fishers may fish. They are established for all European sea basins, but they differ considerably from one sea basin to another, reflecting regional circumstances.
• The CFP Regulation decentralises decision-making by bringing it closer to the fishing grounds (a process known as regionalisation). It provides for the establishment of advisory councils for each of the geographical areas. Member States with a management interest in a given area can propose conservation measures, which the Commission can adopt into EU law.
• A fisheries control system ensures compliance with the rules of the CFP Regulation, including the new Regulation (EU) 2023/2842 (the Control Regulation) and the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 – see summary). Regulation (EU) No 1026/2012 (see summary) lays down the rules that apply to conserving fish stocks in countries with unsustainable fishing.
• New marketing standards with respect to labelling, quality and traceability allow consumers to be better informed about the origin of the fish they buy and its production method.
• The sustainability principle also applies to EU vessels fishing outside EU waters. The Commission is granted the power to negotiate and conclude sustainable fisheries partnership agreements on behalf of the EU with certain non-EU partner countries. These agreements:
  • allow EU vessels to fish for surplus stocks in the partner country’s exclusive economic zone in a legally regulated environment in return for a financial contribution;
  • focus on resource conservation and environmental sustainability, ensuring that all EU vessels are subject to the same rules of control and transparency.
• Member States must support the development of sustainable aquaculture through multiannual national plans.

Review of the CFP Regulation

In 2023, the Commission published a report on the functioning of the CFP. This report assesses the functioning of the CFP, 10 years after the last reform in 2013. It gives an overview of what works and where tangible results have been achieved, where implementation is lagging behind and what efforts are still needed in order to reap the full potential of the CFP. At the same time, it also has a forward-looking perspective, providing a vision and a path towards sustainable and resilient fisheries of the future.

Every year, the Commission also publishes a communication outlining progress on the situation of fish stocks and launching a wide public consultation on the fixing of annual fishing opportunities for the following year. This communication assesses the progress made towards sustainable fishing in the EU and reviews the balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities, the sector’s socioeconomic performance and the implementation of the landing obligation. It also sets out the rationale for the proposal on fishing opportunities for the following year.