Subsidies move into the CFP spotlight

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), the multibillion euro fund which provides money to Member States and the fishing industry, is becoming the focus of political debate on the CFP reform as the basic regulation package has moved into the trialogue negotiations phase. The proposal is currently being discussed by both Council and the European Parliament. An agreement is expected later this year, with the fund to be operational from 2014-2020.

In the Council working group, the focus is on reaching agreement on the outstanding articles after the partial General Approach adopted on 23 October last year. Ministers are scheduled to finalise their General Approach on the EMFF file in April.

In the European Parliament fisheries committee (PECH), the Cadec (EPP, FR) report on the proposal will be voted on at the end of May. Shadow rapporteurs are now having regular meetings to work out a list of cross-party compromise amendments, which will be debated at a hearing next month.

Some MEPs, such as the PECH rapporteur Alain Cadec, have voiced support for funding for the construction of new vessels – a type of subsidy that was removed during the previous CFP reform process 10 years ago in light of the substantial EU fleet overcapacity and the role of earlier EU funds in exacerbating this problem. Such funding also has some support among Member States. However, the initiative to bring back funding for new builds has also been met with great resistance. The MEP Raul Romeva i Rueda (Greens/EFA, ES) has taken to twitter, arguing that the European Parliament must “stop subsidising overfishing”.

Currently, fishing capacity in the EU is more than three times larger than the annual quotas available. A return of funding for new builds would be a great step backwards and disappointing for the Commission, as dropping them was seen as one of the substantial improvements of the previous reform.

NGOs are united in their opposition to subsidies for building new vessels, and also capacity increasing modernisation measures. They demand that assessments of fleet capacity take place in advance of any EU investments in fishing vessels, to ensure that overcapacity is not further subsidised. Another key issue is making access to EU funds conditional on the effective implementation of relevant legislation – by operators and Member States.

In order to meet the ambitious targets that were voted through by the European Parliament plenary in February, NGOs are also calling for a reallocation of resources so that the funds available to Member States for data collection and control and enforcement are doubled and ring-fenced.

Another key issue is transparency regarding the use of public funds. At present, funds are awarded with few safeguards in place to combat fraud and abuse. In a number of cases, funds have been provided to vessels involved in illegal fishing activities. Fishsubsidy.org, an organisation focused on fisheries subsidies in the EU, has recently written to MEPs calling on them to implement a more transparent subsidies regime.