Elements with tag EMFAF
Representatives of the European blue economy value chain met yesterday with Commissioner Costas Kadis, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, to discuss the forthcoming Roadmap for the Energy Transition of Fisheries. The meeting brought together SEA Europe, Europêche, Copa-Cogeca, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the European Association of Fish Producers’ Organisations (EAPO), representing fishers and aquaculture producers, producers’ organisations, cooperatives, workers, shipyards and maritime equipment manufacturers. The organisations reaffirmed their full commitment to the decarbonisation and long-term sustainability of blue economy sectors, while stressing that progress is currently being held back by EU regulatory constraints, limited access to finance and insufficient investment certainty.
Today, the European Commission has unveiled its proposal for the EU budget covering the period 2028 to 2034. As part of this plan, the Commission aims to consolidate various funding instruments under national and regional partnerships to support investment and reform. One of the key pillars— the European Economic, Territorial, Social, Rural and Maritime Sustainable Prosperity and Security Fund—would merge the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) with several other programmes, including those related to agriculture, cohesion and regional development. According to Europêche, such a decision disregards the strategic importance of fisheries, as one of the few truly common EU policies, shockingly omitted even from the new fund’s title. This clearly sends a disheartening signal to the European fishing sector and the coastal communities that depend on it.
As the European Council and the Parliament prepare to discuss the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), leading EU associations urge EU policymakers to maintain and strengthen the current fund for fisheries and aquaculture, emphasizing its critical role in food security, economic stability and environmental sustainability.
The sector calls on Member States to speed-up access to financial aid.
WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies are now entering the final stage. After two decades of dialogue, trade ministers from 164 countries are resolved to secure an agreement ahead of the ministerial conference of 15 July this year. The European fishing industry represented by Europêche fully sustains the need to curb harmful subsidies globally, similarly to what has been done in the EU in the early 2000’s. In this direction, the fishing sector calls on EU institutions and Member states to defend the public aid system established under EU legislation, including the newly adopted Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFAF). Likewise, the sector urges the EU not to succumb to external pressure and defend fuel tax relief schemes. The opposite will drive the fleet to ruin.
Following a marathon meeting last night, EU decision-makers agreed on the new European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) as part of the package of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The new fisheries fund will cover the budgetary period 2021-2027 with a financial envelope of €6.108 billion (in current prices). Europêche welcomes the timely consensus on the new regulation before the end of the year as well as the simplification and flexibility offered by the new fund. However, the sector regrets the budget decrease.
Europêche, the representative body of the European fishing sector, strongly welcomes the adoption by a large majority of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Opinion calling on EU institutions to secure a minimum and mandatory allocation of €6.1 billion for the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) for the 2028–2034 period.