Skip to content
REPORT (2023/2049(INI))

On the implementation of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation in fisheries and aquaculture – Regulation (EU) 1379/2013

A-9-2023-0406

Committee on Fisheries · Rapporteur: Izaskun Bilbao Barandica

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull textProcedure & committee votes
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 26 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's resolution on how Regulation (EU) 1379/2013 on the common market organisation in fishery and aquaculture products has been implemented. It welcomes progress but asks for more work on consumer information, labelling, market transparency and traceability. It calls for more uniform application of the rules across the EU, with attention to the outermost regions, and for recognition of organisations such as Cofradías and Prud'homie de pêche that act like producer organisations. It asks the Commission to reinforce marketing standards with more label information, to reserve the trade name 'fish' for fishery and aquaculture products of animal origin, and to revise labelling rules for plant-based imitations. It calls for a crisis reserve or system, including storage aid, for exceptional situations in the sector, and for greater use of the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA).

Committee position. The rapporteur welcomes progress in implementing the CMO rules but believes more efforts are needed on consumer information, labelling, market transparency and traceability. She calls for more harmonised implementation, recognition of organisations like Cofradías and Prud'homie de pêche, and further use of EUMOFA.

Key points

  1. Recalls that the common organisation of the markets (CMO) is an integral part of the common fisheries policy and vital for its objectives.
  2. Considers producer organisations (POs) and interbranch organisations the backbone of the sector and calls for them to be further supported and strengthened, including better financial support.
  3. Welcomes recognition that production and marketing plans (PMPs) are key, and calls on the Commission for updated staff guidance and action to facilitate market access for all fleet segments.
  4. Urges Member States to provide administrative and financial support to set up and operate new POs, especially for small-scale coastal fisheries, and to improve consistency of support.
  5. Believes organisations such as Prud'homie de pêche and Cofradías should be recognised under the CMO Regulation with the same rights and responsibilities as POs, and calls on the Commission to act.
  6. Calls for marketing standards for aquatic food placed on the EU market, regardless of origin, to adhere to harmonised environmental and social sustainability standards and to be included in trade agreements and regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs).
  7. Calls on the Commission to step up efforts to detect non-compliance and ensure a level playing field in all Member States.
  8. Calls on the Commission to consider reinforcing marketing standards to include more label information such as ingredients, geographical fishing area, fishing gear and date of catch, without adding unnecessary administrative burdens.
  9. Considers the trade name 'fish' or 'fish species' should be reserved for fishery or aquaculture products of animal origin, and calls on the Commission to revise labelling rules for plant-based imitations.
  10. Recalls that POs and interbranch organisations may be exempted from competition rules under certain conditions, and notes that non-recognised collective bodies may not benefit from the exemption.
  11. Calls on the Commission, during the next revision of the CMO, to consider establishing a crisis reserve or system, including storage aid, and to set out criteria for using such aid.
  12. Welcomes the Commission's intention to present a legislative framework for sustainable food systems, stressing it should recognise healthy and sustainable fishery and aquaculture products and not create additional administrative burden.

Who is affected

  • Producer organisations and interbranch organisations: to be further supported and strengthened, with better financial support and recognition.
  • Small-scale coastal fishers, shellfish gatherers and aquaculture farmers: Member States urged to provide support to set up and operate new POs.
  • Organisations such as Cofradías and Prud'homie de pêche: should be recognised under the CMO Regulation with the same rights as POs.
  • Outermost regions: specific conditions of their markets should be taken into account in implementation and marketing standards.
  • Consumers: should receive clear, comprehensive and accurate information on fishery and aquaculture products, including origin and traceability.

Figures and deadlines

  • 31 December 2022: deadline for the Commission to report on the application of the Regulation.
  • 21 February 2023: date the Commission adopted its report.
  • Two years for fresh and frozen products and five years for processed products: transition period for traceability rules under the revised Fisheries Control Regulation.
  • More than three-quarters of respondents to the 2021 Special Eurobarometer 515 consider the date of catch or production should be on the label.
  • Around 70 % of seafood consumed in the EU is imported from non-EU countries.
  • April 2013: EUMOFA website and database online since then.

Legal basis: Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)