A consultation to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the common fisheries policy (CFP) has been started by the European Commission with the aim to gather evidence and different perspectives from a range of stakeholders, including individuals, the fisheries and the maritime sectors, NGOs and other organisations, and national administrations from member states.
The Commission advised that the consultation constitutes the first part of a thorough evaluation that will look at how the CFP has achieved its objectives since 2013, including:
- The long-term sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture
- The contribution to the protection of the marine environment
- The availability of food supplies
- A fair standard of living for fisheries and aquaculture communities
A second consultation, which will include a questionnaire focusing on specific aspects of the evaluation, will be launched in the coming months.
Results of these consultations, alongside other analyses and studies will be used to assess the CFP’s performance in achieving its objectives, its economic implications, and its relevance in the context of emerging needs. The Commission will publish a summary report of the consultations, including the evidence gathered, at the beginning of 2025.
The CFP is the set of rules the European Union uses to manage fishing and fish stocks sustainably. The 2013 reform of the CFP Regulation brought together for the first time, the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of the EU fisheries policy, as well as its contribution to the availability of food supplies. Various measures were introduced under the reformed CFP to achieve the following objectives:
- Fish stock management at sustainable levels for all managed stocks
- Gradual introduction of a landing obligation from 2015 to 2019 for all catches managed with catch limits or minimum sizes
- Multiannual plans to manage fisheries in different sea basins
- Fleet capacity ceilings per EU country together with the obligation for EU countries to ensure a stable and enduring balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities over time
- Conservation measures to be adopted by the Commission through the regionalisation approach, based on cooperation between EU countries across EU sea basins
- Increased stakeholder involvement and improved cooperation in EU decision-making, including at regional level
