On the evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy and follow-up

B100389/2026

European Parliament resolution on the evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy and follow-up

(2026/2778(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and in particular Articles 3, 4, 5, 11, 13, 38, 39, 43, 225 and 349 thereof,

– having regard to the Commission staff working document of 30 April 2026 entitled ‘Evaluation – Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy’ (SWD(2026)0120),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (CFP Basic Regulation) ,

– having regard to the Commission staff working document entitled ‘Executive summary of the evaluation of the Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy’ (SWD(2026)0121),

– – having regard to its resolution of 4 October 2022 on striving for a sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture: the way forward,

– having regard to its resolution of 19 January 2023 on the small-scale fisheries situation in the EU and future perspectives,

– having regard to its resolution of 21 May 2026 on the multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea and ways forward,

– having regard to its resolution of 7 June 2022 on the implementation of Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy Regulation,

– having regard to its resolution of 18 May 2021 on securing the objectives of the landing obligation under Article 15 of the Common Fisheries Policy,

– having regard to its resolution of 16 September 2021 on fishers for the future: attracting a new generation of workers to the fishing industry and generating employment in coastal communities,

– having regard to its resolution of 21 January 2021 entitled ‘More fish in the seas? Measures to promote stock recovery above the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), including fish recovery areas and marine protected areas’ ,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 5 June 2025 entitled ‘The European Ocean Pact’ (COM(2025)0281),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 21 February 2023 entitled ‘EU Action Plan: Protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries’ (COM(2023)0102),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 5 June 2026 entitled ‘Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2027’ (COM(2026)0271),

– having regard to the study requested by Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries entitled ‘Allocation of fishing opportunities in the EU’, published by its Directorate-General for Cohesion, Agriculture and Social Policies in August 2026,

– having regard to the advice published on 26 March 2026 by the Market Advisory Council entitled ‘Competitiveness of the EU Market of Fishery and Aquaculture Products – Simplification and reduction of administrative burden’,

– having regard to the report by Costas Kadis, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, published in September 2025, entitled ‘2025 Annual Progress Report – Simplification, Implementation and Enforcement’,

– having regard to the report by the European Environmental Agency, published in July 2026, entitled ‘ETC-BE Report 2026/3: Marine Messages III. State, pressures, and choices for the future’,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas resilient and stable fish stocks are the prerequisite for healthy ecosystems and a thriving fishing sector, providing employment, food security and secure prospects for generational renewal;

B. whereas the 2026 Commission evaluation of the CFP Basic Regulation concludes that the CFP’s comprehensive principles and objectives such as adhering to MSY and the ecosystem-based approach, removing overcapacity, and improving fishing techniques to avoid unwanted catches remain relevant in the face of accelerating climate change, geopolitical developments and other emerging challenges;

C. whereas the Commission evaluation of the CFP finds that even though fishing pressure has been reduced, this has not led to a stock recovery to biomass levels above those that can produce MSY, which is the legally binding objective as enshrined in the CFP Basic Regulation; whereas the Member States’ uneven implementation of the rules in place, including on control and the weak implementation of the ecosystem approach, and remaining overcapacity in the fishing fleets remains a big problem;

D. whereas the CFP evaluation also notes that there are persistent shortcomings in the integration of the CFP Basic Regulation with other policies such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the Birds and Habitats Directive, the Marine Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD) and with EU climate and biodiversity objectives, further underlining the implementation gap;

E. whereas the evaluation finds that the landing obligation has not resulted in an evident change in fishing behaviour, selectivity or catch composition, and identifies factors explaining this outcome which include fragmented implementation, insufficient data, numerous exemptions, weak incentives, and ineffective monitoring and enforcement;

F. whereas the 2026 study requested by the Committee on Fisheries identifies a persistent gap between the policy intent of Article 17 of the CFP Basic Regulation and its implementation to incentivise socially and environmentally sustainable fisheries, such as low impact small-scale fisheries; whereas historical catch records continue to dominate allocation systems while environmental, social and economic criteria generally carry limited weight;

G. whereas considering the fact that overcapacity still exists, and fish stock status overall remains weak, the use of public funds for fleet renewal is a breach of the intention of the 2022 World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on fisheries subsidies as regards not granting or maintaining subsidies for fishing or fishing related activities for overfished stocks;

H. whereas the key problems in reaching the objectives of both the CFP and marine environmental policies were already highlighted in the Commission’s 2023 EU Marine Action Plan, and were described as a lack of coordination and coherence among existing policies;

I. whereas the recent 2025 evaluation of the MSFD shows that the failure to reach good environmental status (GES) is linked to inconsistent threshold setting for GES, which varies from country to country, and the fact that regional cooperation and coordination is lacking and that cross-sectoral coherence, not least with the CFP, is required; whereas this issue is also mentioned in the 2026 CFP evaluation;

J. whereas it is clear that fishing mortality at maximum sustainable yield (FMSY) alone cannot address ecosystem problems and multi-species considerations, the climate-driven changes and increasing uncertainty; whereas marine management needs new scientific advice that combines stock-specific science with a stronger element of precaution and a recovery-focused ecosystem-based management, as already mandated by the relevant marine and fisheries regulations in place;

K. whereas rapid ecosystem changes are clearly visible, driven by climate change and rising water temperatures; whereas the cost of inaction to adapt to this new reality and act with precaution risks that more fish stocks collapse in several sea areas;

L. whereas the need for an overarching Ocean Act is evident, to align policy objectives and streamline the use of the precautionary and ecosystem-based approach to foster governance change, a changed basis for scientific advice, and provide legal clarity;

M. whereas Parliament therefore welcomes the European Ocean Pact’s ambition to change direction and refocus on a coherent approach to ocean management and governance, and for an Ocean Act to foster implementable actions on ecosystem-based management and to provide legal clarity in order to reach already agreed upon targets for ocean health and restoration;

1. Welcomes the 2026 Commission evaluation of the CFP Basic Regulation and stresses that it should lead to an immediate strengthened implementation, enforcement and the improvement of governance to reach the objectives;

2. Reaffirms the fundamental pillars and objectives of the CFP, including environmental, economic and social sustainability, the precautionary approach, the ecosystem-based approach, science-based management, healthy fish stocks, GES, the availability of food supplies, and a fair standard of living;

3. Stresses that restoring and maintaining fish stocks to levels above those that can produce the MSY with a natural age and size structure in line with the MSFD and its objective to achieve GES has not been achieved; stresses further that this legally binding objective remains crucial for profitable and competitive fisheries and for coastal communities as well as for long-term food security and climate resilience;

4. Calls on the Commission and on Member States to ensure that annual fishing opportunities are adopted in line with the precautionary approach and the ecosystem-based approach, including risk-based reductions or, where necessary, closures to avoid stock collapse;

5. Calls for the best available scientific advice to be used as the basis for all such policy decisions; highlights that this changed advice must be ecosystem-based and include multi-species considerations, recognising environmental variability and food web interactions, and explore the use of ecosystem-based reference points (ERP) and ecosystem-adjusted fishing mortality data;

6. Calls on the Member States to allocate fishing opportunities that prioritise low-impact fishing for direct human consumption and not fish meal, through the prioritisation of small-scale coastal fisheries that contribute to local employment, long-term food security, economic livelihood and the resilience of coastal communities; calls in this respect to ensure preferential access for these fisheries within the 12 nautical mile zone ;

7. Calls on the Member States to assess the fishing capacity of fleet segments against available fishing opportunities and ecosystem limits, to match fishing capacity accordingly in order to reduce the risk of overfishing, to halt all subsidies contributing to overfishing in accordance with the WTO agreement and to adopt targeted, socially just capacity-adjusting measures where necessary instead of indiscriminate fleet reduction;

8. Highlights that the response to the challenges to implement the landing obligation must be to use all available tools to meet objectives including improved quota-management tools, bycatch mitigation, switching to selective gears, quota pools, real-time closures, quota exchanges between Member States and producer organisations, and strengthening control measures foreseen in the updated Fisheries Control Regulation, while maintaining the objectives of the landing obligation to avoid unwanted catches and stop discarding fish; recalls that access and sharing of bycatch data can empower fishers to avoid bycatch hotspots and inform more accurate and science-based fisheries management decisions;

9. Underlines that the Member States must deploy adequate means to control and enforce the rules of the CFP framework, including catch limits agreed with non-EU countries; notes that reliance only on traditional control risks inaccuracies in catch reporting, including for quota use and catches of endangered species, and therefore not attaining the EU’s and international conservation objectives;

10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to give practical effect to Article 17 CFP by using the allocation of fishing opportunities to incentivise more sustainable fishing practices and improve access for small-scale fisheries; urges a just transition towards greater reliance on objective and transparent allocation criteria that reward, inter alia, verified selectivity, low environmental impact, regulatory compliance and that contribute to coastal employment;

11. Regrets that regionalisation, as enshrined in the CFP Basic Regulation, has not been more effective and not delivered necessary adjustments; notes that there is room for improvements within the current framework; calls for a strengthened regional approach under the CFP with clearer responsibilities, faster procedures adapted to the needs of environmental objectives, timely and meaningful participation by fishers and coastal communities, and improved trust, data-sharing and enforcement;

12. Underlines that changing the rules of the CFP Basic Regulation will not lead to any improvements of the central problem for EU fisheries, which is overfishing and environmental degradation; highlights that expectations of more profitability for the fishing sector will not be met in the future as long as improving the status and rebuilding the health of EU fish stocks is not seen as the first priority;

13. Calls for a fair and competitive EU market for fisheries and aquaculture products; supports greater transparency and traceability throughout the supply chain, clearer consumer information and improved labelling covering all types of seafood products, including processed products, and including mandatory indication of origin, species, date of catch, fishing gear and flag state of the fishing vessel, while avoiding confusing or misleading labelling; calls for a level playing field between EU producers’ products and imported products; considers, therefore, that a targeted revision of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation is necessary to strengthen these objectives and ensure that imported products are subject to equivalent standards and requirements as EU products; stresses further the importance of robust implementation and enforcement of the EU’s zero-tolerance approach to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing;

14. Demands therefore that the focus should be to introduce an overarching EU Ocean Act that sets ecosystem and fish stock health as priority and legally binding targets; emphasises that sectoral policies must be aligned with this target when management decisions are taken, such as when restoration and protection efforts are planned, renewable energy production is developed, and when allocating fishing rights;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.