2012 - The opportunity for change

EU Common Fisheries Policy Reform

The 2012 reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) provides the opportunity for a new policy that will stop overfishing, end destructive fishing practices and deliver fair and equitable use of abundant fish stocks.

The CFP is the European Union's instrument for the management of fisheries and aquaculture occurring in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), or by its fleet fishing outside EU waters.

In 2007, the EU Court of Auditors judged that the CFP had failed to achieve its central objective of the sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources. Find out more

The Commission's Green Paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy published on April 21 2009 launched a public consultation that will last until December 31 this year.

The Green Paper  outlines the state of Europe's fisheries today.

The key elements of reform

OCEAN2012's proposals for the reform are:

• Catch limits should be set by scientists not by politicians;
• Fishing capacity must be brought in line with available fishing resources;
• Access to fish resources should be based on environmental and social criteria; and
• Subsidies and other financial instruments awarded in a discretionary manner by Member States should target facilitating the transition towards environmentally and socially sustainable fisheries.