COMMON FISHERIES POLICY: MISSION NOT YET ACCOMPLISHED

The report argues that while the CFP provides a strong legal framework, it has failed to meet its 2020 deadline to end overfishing due to Member State inaction, insufficient Commission oversight, and industry resistance. It identifies nine critical challenges, including the dire state of the Mediterranean Sea, poor compliance with the landing obligation, and the absence of climate change considerations in the policy. The authors call for a transition to low-impact fisheries, the elimination of harmful subsidies, and the use of remote electronic monitoring to ensure sustainability.

• The European Union failed to meet the legal deadline of 2020 to harvest all fish stocks sustainably, with overfishing persisting across all European basins.
• The Mediterranean and Black Seas are in a critical state, with 83% of assessed stocks being overfished, making the Mediterranean the most overfished sea globally according to the FAO.
• Widespread non-compliance with the landing obligation (LO) allows for unsustainable catches that may far exceed scientific advice, as total allowable catches (TACs) are set based on total catch rather than landings.
• The CFP Basic Regulation completely lacks consideration of climate change, containing no mention of the word 'climate' despite the intensifying impacts of the climate emergency on marine ecosystems.
• EU fisheries subsidies remain harmful, with the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFAF) failing to sufficiently support conservation; only 6% of the previous EMFF was used for measures directly related to conservation.
• The regionalisation process and multi-annual plans (MAPs) have been ineffective, often serving to water down the CFP's objectives through the creation of exemptions and flexibilities in discard plans.

APA

ClientEarth (2021). COMMON FISHERIES POLICY: MISSION NOT YET ACCOMPLISHED. https://www.clientearth.org/media/4cnpu0ex/common-fisheries-policy_mission-not-yet-accomplished.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. COMMON FISHERIES POLICY: MISSION NOT YET ACCOMPLISHED. 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/4cnpu0ex/common-fisheries-policy_mission-not-yet-accomplished.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=COMMON FISHERIES POLICY: MISSION NOT YET ACCOMPLISHED |date=June 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/4cnpu0ex/common-fisheries-policy_mission-not-yet-accomplished.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2021common, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{COMMON FISHERIES POLICY: MISSION NOT YET ACCOMPLISHED}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/4cnpu0ex/common-fisheries-policy_mission-not-yet-accomplished.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }