THE NEXT EU BUDGET

The briefing calls for a fundamental redesign of the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to stop funding destructive fishing practices and instead prioritize marine biodiversity and small-scale coastal communities. It proposes specific spending targets, including a 50% climate and environment target and a 10% biodiversity target, and advocates for the full integration of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies into EU law to prohibit harmful subsidies.

• Public subsidies currently sustain the most energy-intensive and destructive fleet segments, such as bottom-trawlers, which would not be profitable without this support.
• There is a significant funding gap for marine conservation and restoration, with some estimates suggesting a gap of approximately €19 billion annually until 2030, while harmful subsidies continue to damage fish stocks and biodiversity.
• The briefing proposes that the next MFF should increase the budget-wide climate and environment target to 50% and introduce a dedicated target of at least 10% for biodiversity, including a specific allocation for marine biodiversity.
• The document recommends that the National and Regional Partnerships Plans (NRPP) split ocean-related funding equally: 50% for ocean conservation and restoration and 50% for a just transition toward a regenerative Blue Economy.
• To prevent abuses, the briefing advocates for the full transposition of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies into EU law, specifically prohibiting subsidies for Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and fishing on overfished stocks.
• The briefing calls for the prohibition of subsidies for any method that increases fleet capacity to catch fish, such as engine upgrades, and any subsidies benefiting destructive methods like bottom-trawling, unless used to transition away from them.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). THE NEXT EU BUDGET. https://www.clientearth.org/media/053ghnfo/mff-briefing.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. THE NEXT EU BUDGET. n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/053ghnfo/mff-briefing.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=THE NEXT EU BUDGET |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/053ghnfo/mff-briefing.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearthndnext, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{THE NEXT EU BUDGET}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/053ghnfo/mff-briefing.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }