Yesterday, the Fisheries Council formally adopted the compromise on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, essentially bringing the CFP reform to an end. Only publication in the Official Journal now remains.

The Fisheries Council decision yesterday concluded a first reading agreement on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), which was adopted by a large majority in the European Parliament in mid-April. Only Romania abstained from the vote.

This adoption really does mark the end of the reform of the CFP – only the publication of the legislative text for the EMFF in the Official Journal remains. The other parts of the reform package – the basic regulation (EU 1380/2013) and the market regulation (EU 1379/2013) – were adopted by the Council in October last year, also after first reading agreements.

The EMFF not only marks the end of the reform, it is also the last one of the new European Structural Funds to be adopted, all with a financing period stretching from 2014 to 2020. With a budget of 6.5 billion EUR, the fund will provide financial support to implement the new CFP and support fishermen, fish farmers and coastal communities in adapting the new regulations. It will also finance projects under the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP).

For example, project aid is intended to help fishermen comply with new requirements such as the discard ban, including support for the development of more selective fishing gear. Money will also be used to improve data collection and infrastructure.

Hopefully, the fund will help to make EU fisheries more sustainable, but much of the responsibility for that rests on the Member States. They have all been developing national Operational Programmes, setting out how to use the new Fund. With the adoption of the legislative text yesterday, these will now be reviewed by the Commission and agreed with each Member State.

In principle, a Member State can choose not to include funding for measures that may not increase sustainability, such as engine replacements and support for temporary cessation of fishing activities. Whether any of them choose to do so remains to be seen.