Memo: Reform of Common Fisheries Policy control framework – questions and answers

The fisheries control regulation in force until now dates back to 1993. It has since been amended a dozen times, in particular in 1998 to include the control of fishing effort, and in 2002 during the last reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The resulting system has serious shortcomings that prevent it from being as effective as it should be. As both the European Commission and the European Court of Auditors have highlighted, the current system is inefficient, expensive, complex, and it does not produce the desired results. This in turn impacts negatively on the implementation of other elements of the CFP and undermines the success of conservation and effort management initiatives. Control failures thus contribute to the negative performance of the CFP, which appears unable to deliver on its fundamental objective.

Despite several years of implementation of the 2002 CFP reform, which has introduced a number of potentially powerful conservation measures, the state of resources in EU waters remains worrying. Some 88% of stocks are overfished, and this threatens both fish stocks and the livelihoods of fishermen. If we allow this situation to continue, the negative impact on fisheries resources, the fishing industry and regions dependent on fishing is likely to be very serious. That is why the Commission has proposed this substantial reform of the CFP control system, addressing all its shortcomings and modernising its approach.

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