Commission's EU budget plan delivers major blow to fisheries
In its proposal for a long-term EU budget for the 2028-2034 period, the EU executive merged the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) into a single mega-fund that also covers cohesion and rural development funds, and which is to be managed by national governments.
Beyond the structural overhaul, the fisheries budget has shrunk from around €6 billion to €2 billion.
'The budget cut is as unjustified as it is alarming,' said Spanish MEP Carmen Crespo Díaz of the centre-right European Peoples' Party (EPP) and chair of the Parliament's Fisheries (PECH) committee. This comes 'after years of quota reductions, increasing limitations on fishing days, and a lack of real support for fishing effort,' she added.
Crespo also criticised the loss of EMFAF's standalone status. 'Without a specific fund, there is no specific policy,' she warned.
Industry representatives echoed the concern. 'We are witnessing a weakening of support for a sector already under severe strain and in steady decline,' said Europêche, the EU's main fishing lobby.
EU fisheries Commissioner Costas Kadis, however, dismissed the criticism.
'Fisheries and ocean related policies are very well reflected in all three major building blocks of the new EU budget,' he said on social media.
Kadis added that member states can choose to allocate more funds to fisheries through their National and Regional Plans (NRPs), and that the €2 billion is a minimum ringfenced amount within the larger fund.
He also pointed to additional funding options, including the European Competitiveness Fund, which supports investments in 'sustainable blue economy', and the Global Europe tool, aimed at 'ocean diplomacy' and combatting illegal fishing.
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