News
07.05.2014
Europe approves €5.7 billion for Common Fisheries Policy
The European Maritime & Fisheries Fund (EMFF) has been formally adopted by the European Council. The European Union’s fund will provide an estimated €5.7 billion until 2020 to ensure the effective implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
Environmental lawyers ClientEarth say weaknesses in the EMFF mean that a good CFP could be undermined if Member States choose to use this, and other state and private funds, to subsidise harmful activities.
For instance, the EMFF allows Member States to fund fishers to dismantle old boats, and buy newer ones, or to buy more powerful engines. This promotes overcapacity, when the CFP contains fleet size reduction targets, and distorts the market by removing significant business risks associated with fishing.
Flaminia Tacconi, ClientEarth Lawyer, said: “The Commission’s original proposal would have made aid very much more conditional on compliance with the CFP. The EMFF now means we could see fisheries that don’t act within the rules receiving payouts in some countries but not others.”
The EMFF also means EU funds for data collection and fisheries control measures come out of the same pot; Member States can choose how much they subsidise each area. This could result in countries having data on fish stocks but no information on the fishing practices of their fishers, or vice versa. Moreover, the EMFF has not followed the European Parliament’s lead in ensuring that subsidies support only sustainable aquaculture.
ClientEarth has today published a report explaining the main issues with the EMFF in terms of its economic and environmental risks and opportunities, and calls on Member States to make the right choices to deliver and comply with the new CFP.
