Joint NGO position: Post-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

A joint position paper by NGOs urging EU legislators to reform the post-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The authors argue that the fund should shift from financing direct economic activity and capacity-increasing subsidies toward a results-based approach that prioritizes marine biodiversity, strict fisheries control, and a sustainable blue economy.

• The NGOs propose that at least 25% of the EMFF budget per Member State be ring-fenced for the protection and restoration of the marine environment, including habitat restoration and innovative mitigation for incidental catches.
• The document argues for increasing the budgetary allocation for monitoring, control of fishing activities, and data collection from 15% to 25%, with a specific focus on data-poor fisheries and electronic monitoring for small-scale vessels.
• The authors call for the removal of subsidies that increase fishing capacity, specifically opposing derogations that allow funding for the acquisition of vessels or the modernisation of engines for small-scale fishers, as these contradict UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.6.
• The position paper criticizes the use of 'extraordinary cessation' and permanent cessation subsidies, noting that EU spending of €2.73 billion on vessel scrapping between 1994 and 2013 failed to stop fishing capacity from increasing by approximately 3% annually.
• The NGOs advocate for a strict conditionality principle where EMFF funding is withheld from Member States or operators who violate EU environmental law, including the Birds Directive, Habitats Directive, and Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
• Regarding aquaculture, the document argues that public funds should not support the expansion of production methods with negative environmental impacts and calls for a common EU definition of 'sustainable aquaculture' based on measurable targets.
• The document suggests that the EMFF should support low-income countries in controlling the EU's Distant Water Fishing Fleet through the financing of inspection programmes and training for non-EU inspectors.

APA

ClientEarth (2019). Joint NGO position: Post-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. https://www.clientearth.org/media/derl0wyt/joint-ngo-position-post-2020-european-maritime-and-fisheries-fund-coll-en-1.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Joint NGO position: Post-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. 2019. https://www.clientearth.org/media/derl0wyt/joint-ngo-position-post-2020-european-maritime-and-fisheries-fund-coll-en-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Joint NGO position: Post-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund |date=January 2019 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/derl0wyt/joint-ngo-position-post-2020-european-maritime-and-fisheries-fund-coll-en-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2019joint, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Joint NGO position: Post-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2019}, month = jan, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/derl0wyt/joint-ngo-position-post-2020-european-maritime-and-fisheries-fund-coll-en-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }